INTER CAMPUS: TEN RECORD YEARS
It was founded two months after the Bosman Ruling, which changed modern football. Founded when for the first time in football the social role of top European clubs towards youngsters and academies was discussed seriously. Ten years on from 20 February 1996, F.C. Internazionale's reply is still a shining example. In just a decade Inter Campus has achieved extraordinary things, winning recognition in Italy and worldwide, and those involved can celebrate tomorrow's 10th birthday with pride and with the awareness that their project has become a reference point, nationally and internationally, for combining the technical demands of a great club with the education and healthy growth of youngsters.
"It's rightful to thank Massimo Moratti and all his family, who strongly wanted the Inter Campus project and have always followed it with care and passion," points out F.C. Internazionale board director Ernesto Paolillo, who oversees the club's youth sector. "My thanks go also to all the people who carry the project forward every day with professionalism and dedication. Now we are working on organising the party that Inter Campus deserves and which will be the starting point for the future."
The tenth anniversary celebrations will take place over three days, from 21-23 April, and will be opened with a gala dinner at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium's executive suite. The celebrations continue with the Kellogg's national tournament finals at the Arena Civica (where Milan derbies were once played), with over 500 participating children and 400 academy and Inter Campus Village instructors. On Sunday 23 April all the Nerazzurri children will attend a morning mass in Milan cathedral, then in the afternoon there will be a parade at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium before Inter's home match against Reggina.
Inter Campus Italy statistics:
20 February 1996: there were 22 affiliated clubs when the Inter Campus project was presented. Today there are 60.
150,000: children from affiliated clubs who have been invited to watch Inter at home.
60,000: sports kits distributed to affiliated clubs.
10,000: children who have participated in Inter Campus summer camps.
5,000: instructors who have participated in coaching courses.
4,800: official visits from affiliated clubs in the Lombardy region.
1,500: boys enrolled with affiliate clubs who have been visited and followed by Inter Youth Sector's medical staff.
700: instructors invited to watch F.C. Internazionale Youth Sector teams train.
600: visits made to affiliate clubs in Italy.
500: friendly matches played between affiliate clubs and Inter Youth Sector teams.
200: participations of Inter Youth Sector teams in tournaments organised by affiliate clubs.
Inter Campus Worldwide:
The Inter Campus Worldwide project was set up a year after Inter Campus, and today is present in fourteen countries around the world. The project's main purpose is to combine football and the colours of Inter with the development of children in areas where social and economic difficulties are widespread. Great attention is paid to schooling and football becomes both a reward and a way of avoiding the risks of children making the wrong choices.
Inter Campus Worldwide's project in Brazil promotes education to over 4000 children every year. In Romania 400 orphans participate in educational and sporting activities with children from local communities. In Bosnia 800 Serb, Croat and Muslim children train together. And in Colombia 600 children take part in daily activities which keep them away from the dangers of narco-traffic and guerilla warfare.
Inter Campus Worldwide statistics:
90,000: sports kits distributed to children (10,000 per year since 1997).
10,000: children who participate daily in sporting and educational activities to combat specific problems in each country, like poverty, drugs, juvenile crime, alcoholism and racism.
300: volunteers, instructors or collaborators who work alongside existing structures on local projects.
200: coaches/educators who work daily with our children on the pitch and in correlated educational activities.
60: coaches from 20 different countries who have collaborated with Inter coaches at Inter Campus summer camps.
50: children from Sarajevo who with the help of Inter Campus Worldwide have received psychotherapy for the removal of war trauma.
20: local tournaments which have involved local Inter Campus children and nearby teams.
20: teams from eight different countries who have taken part in tournaments organised by Inter Campus teams in Italy or by organisers who as friends of the project have accommodated visiting children in their families.
:star: :star: :star: FORZA INTER !!! :star: :star: :star: