‘So it’s true’: Asser, 14, and the sailing dream made possible
Fundraising at Centro Velico 3V and support from Sport Senza Frontiere allowed him to keep sailing. Between Bracciano, Anzio and Civitavecchia, his passion has also become friendship and confidence.
In Michele Pesante’s account, Asser holds the club bag to his chest, smiles and says: “So it’s true.” He has just been told he can keep sailing. Fees and equipment had been an obstacle for his family; fundraising and the partnership between Sport Senza Frontiere and Centro Velico 3V made an ongoing place possible.
‘He gave an enormous smile and hugged the bag to his chest as if it held his future,’ recalls Michele Pesante, Sport Senza Frontiere ETS’s regional coordinator for Rome and Lazio. He was there when Asser received the news. He has supported him for five years, since he was nine and began his journey with the association playing football.
Asser is now 14. He trains on lake and sea, has new friends and a passion that is visible even away from the boat: just watch him trying to learn a knot.
An Optimist, the lake and eyes that light up
He discovered sailing on Lake Bracciano during Joy Nature, one of Sport Senza Frontiere’s residential outdoor camps. Asser climbed aboard an Optimist, the small training dinghy for young sailors. Michele clearly remembers that first encounter with the water: ‘There was incredible energy in the air and his eyes were literally shining.’
His desire to learn is visible on the dock too. While other children become distracted, Asser stays to watch the instructors explain sailing knots.
The cost of the course. And people who find a solution
Continuing takes resources: fees, technical clothing and the equipment needed for different activities. For Asser’s family, these costs are difficult to meet.
Alessandro Pace, head of Centro Velico 3V in Trevignano Romano, noticed him during his earliest experiences on the Optimist and wanted to include him in the club’s official courses. He therefore took action personally, organising fundraising within the sports club.
Two parents gave special support to the ‘Una Vela Per Adri’ appeal. Their son Adri, an accomplished sailor, died tragically. To remember him, they chose to help a young person develop the same passion: of all the children supported by Sport Senza Frontiere, they wanted to support Asser.
Their contribution, together with the fundraising organised by Alessandro Pace at Centro Velico 3V, provided the technical equipment he needed to continue his journey, including on catamarans.
The club provides technical and sporting training. Sport Senza Frontiere handles logistics, the process for medical certification and educational and psychological monitoring. This collaboration makes regular attendance possible: registration comes with everything else needed to take part in training.
This brings us to the bag being handed over and Asser’s smile. For Michele, the educational value of that moment is clear: seeing adults take a wish seriously helps build self-confidence.
‘He used to be very shy.’ Now there is a group to grow with
The course gives Asser experience on Lake Bracciano and at sea, in Anzio and Civitavecchia. Michele is also struck by changes in relationships: the children have formed a close-knit group, working together and supporting one another.
Sport Senza Frontiere: from the first five children to a solidarity network
Sport Senza Frontiere began its activities in 2009 with a pilot project for five children referred by the Community of Sant’Egidio and enrolled in modern pentathlon courses at Athlion Roma. The project started within the sports club, of which Alessandro Tappa is a founder, through the initiative of friends and professionals united by their love of sport.
The first project was funded by proceeds from a photographic auction linked to an exhibition organised with Contrasto and Reuters’ collaboration at Rome’s Museo di Roma in Trastevere. Sport Senza Frontiere Onlus was formally established on 23 May 2011: initial funding from the Vodafone Foundation made it possible to involve one hundred children in different sports clubs, launching the Rete Sportiva Solidale. In 2024 the association became an ETS, an Italian third-sector organisation.
Its mission is free, multidisciplinary support for children experiencing vulnerability and socioeconomic hardship. ‘For us, sport is not the ultimate goal, but an educational tool to tackle social exclusion and offer equal opportunities for personal development,’ Michele explains.
Asser was referred by local social services in Rome’s Municipio III. His journey shows how this support works: joining a sports club, experiencing the camp, noticing a new passion and working with the sailing club to help him pursue it.
This year Sport Senza Frontiere expects to support more than 150 children and young people in the Rome area, Pesante explains. In Palermo, support for the first 40 children in a new project has already begun, including educational, psychological and health monitoring.
This is how confidence grows
From the first football sessions to outings on lake and sea, Michele has followed five years of Asser’s development. When he speaks about him, he says he is proud of how he has grown. He has seen concentration, determination and greater openness towards others emerge.
How to support Sport Senza Frontiere
To learn about the projects and ways to help, visit sportsenzafrontiere.it.
In Italy, you can allocate your ‘5 per mille’ tax contribution to Sport Senza Frontiere ETS using its tax identification number 97653510582.
With the contribution and photographs supplied by Sport Senza Frontiere ETS.
