Music and sports, Spring festival at the Institute for the Blind in Palermo

Music, sports and lots of fun. A real party was organized at the Institute for the Blind in Palermo to welcome spring. Children, teenagers, professional and amateur athletes spent a morning together under the sun at the Parco dei Suoni, inside the Florio-Salamone Institute.

Many activities allowed both children and adults to learn about and try different sports: basketball, soccer, archery, athletics, volleyball, taekwondo and this year’s novelty, blind tennis, a variation for the visually impaired of tennis that differs from the traditional one in some aspects, starting from the ball which, in addition to having a rattle, is larger compared to the traditional one: nine centimeters in diameter instead of five.

“To liven up the park even more – explains Tommaso Di Gesaro, president of the Institute for the Blind – we decided to organize a party on the first day of each season. Today we celebrate spring. The goal is always to promote sports not only for the blind but for everyone, in a spirit of inclusion and participation. Many kids today are trying out different sports activities and maybe some of them will discover a new world that will surely make them feel good. This type of activity represents for our users an opportunity for personal growth and an opportunity for socialization and comparison with the world around them.”

The guests of the institute, friends of the Palermo section of the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired, children from the social sports schools of Vivi Sano and Addiopizzo, and the team of the Sicily Taekwondo Academy all participated in recreational and sports activities.

Also present were archers with intellectual disabilities from Vivi Sano who competed with the cadets from the Archers Grifoni of Sicily. And the tennis players with sensory disabilities from the Global Social Inclusive of Antonella Rigano who emphasized the importance of promoting and introducing blind tennis. “A sport suitable for everyone, children and adults of all ages – says Antonella Rigano. We make sighted people wear a mask to make them understand the sensations experienced when playing with closed eyes and focusing on sound.”

Among the young and adult athletes, engaged in competitions and tournaments, there is Daniele Giliberti, the coordinator of sports activities within the institute and founder of Vivi Sano non-profit organization, satisfied and happy to hear the Park echo with life and smiles.