U.S. Torri Faces Closure Without New Managers or Volunteers
“Managers Needed to Prevent the Closure of Unione Sportiva Torri”. This could be the succinct summary of the appeal launched in the council chamber of the Castello scaligero by the president of Unione Sportiva Torri, Luigi Vedovelli, and the other managers of this football club.
With some eloquent signs posted in recent days along all the central streets of the town, the leaders of the white-blue team had already raised a question that sounded like: “Farewell U.S. Torri?”.
Despite extensive propaganda for the public meeting, however, once again the town’s population, historically resistant to any public gatherings, including municipal councils and primarily interested instead in meetings on the Town Plan or other topics with economic or speculative backgrounds, responded with “no interest” to the alarm raised.
The Situation of the Football Club
The managers of the local football team, despite the slightly positive balance sheet and a team at the top of the rankings in the latest Third Category tournament, are about to dissolve the club due to “lack of managers and escorts”.
“It’s clear that,” explained with much bitterness six out of ten members of the U.S. Torri board, to the about ten people present at the public assembly, “the Torri residents are not interested in whether a football team representing the town continues or not and whether it gives young people the chance to play. At this point, we can only acknowledge it.”
Among the few present besides the six managers were some former players, the former president of U.S. Torri Gioacchino Benetti, and the municipal councilor delegated to sport, Renato Aloisi. In short, only three were the “new faces” present to hear about the club’s problems.
Future Perspectives
Based on facts, the only likely scenario at this point seems to be registering a single team to represent the town in the upcoming football season, that of the under-eights. “For their eight or nine-year-old children,” commented with regret Siro Vedovelli, “parents are present on Saturday afternoons, sometimes even excessively. None of them, for example, seem interested or willing to follow the Third Category team itself. And clearly, we cannot go on like this. The proof of the disinterest is the very presence, or rather the absence, of people at the meeting.”
The current management, only three or four people strong, would be inclined to register the “team” for next year’s tournament, provided they can find at least another four or five people, “willing to dedicate time and some effort to U.S. Torri“.
“Managing a Third Category team,” emphasized President Luigi Vedovelli, “is now akin to managing a small business, at least from a bureaucratic perspective. If new faces do not emerge, everything will come to an end.”
During last season, the president himself sometimes had to fulfill multiple roles simultaneously—referee, escort manager, president, and ticket seller. The last role, in reality, was the least burdensome since, despite the team being at the top of the rankings, no more than five or six supporters of U.S. Torri attended the home matches to follow their “performances”.
This “declaration of love” is what is making managers hesitate to register a team for the next season, a team established back in 1975.
In short, what has already happened in Garda and San Zeno di Montagna—where teams disbanded—is also happening in Torri. Nonetheless, to leave no stone unturned, the current management has set June 10 as the final deadline to decide whether to dissolve the club definitively or not.
If, by that date, at least four or five volunteers have come forward, U.S. Torri will continue, and the team will be officially registered. Otherwise, players will be informed about the possibility of accepting offers from other teams for the club’s definitive closure.
Already, several clubs, highlighting individual quality, have contacted some players for the upcoming season.