VICTIMS ARE NO LONGER ALONE
No matter how important and famous a sports figure may be, those who abuse must be punished
VICTIMS ARE NO LONGER ALONE
No matter how important and famous a sports figure may be, those who abuse must be punished
CHANGETHEGAME is the first Italian association of volunteers, registered in the National Single Register of the Third Sector, that fights against every form of sexual, emotional, and physical violence within the sports context.
The association protects and supports children and their families, women athletes, and all those who have experienced abuse during their sports careers. ChangeTheGame was founded in 2017 by Daniela Simonetti, a journalist and essayist, and Alessandra Marzari, a doctor and president of the Vero Volley Consortium, a gold star of the CONI for sports merit. The board includes lawyer Paola Puglisi and Dr. Alice Fimiani, an athlete and recent law graduate. A prestigious testimonial and board member of ChangeTheGame is Edoardo Verzotti, the 2004 world rowing champion.
Daniela Simonetti, journalist for ANSA and essayist, conceived and founded ChangeTheGame in 2017, the first Italian association against abuse in sports. Author of the investigative book ‘Impunity of the Herd: sex, lies, and omertà in the world of sports,’ published by Chiarelettere, she received the International City of Como Award with Dacia Maraini on the technical jury. Born in Taranto on July 14, 1964, Daniela Simonetti began her journalistic career in 1988 at ANSA, initially as a parliamentary journalist and later as a sports reporter.
Daniela Simonetti is a member of the Commission for the Protection of Minors of the Italian Football Federation and collaborates with the FIBS (Italian Baseball and Softball Federation), participating in the ‘Prime basi Scuola’ project aimed at 20 thousand families. Included in the 2021 list of the top 100 sports personalities of the year compiled by Mauro Berruto and Loris Gasparri, Daniela Simonetti exposed the scandal of abuse and violence in sports, wrote the first Italian toolkits for members, athlete parents, and adopted athletes by the FIGC (Italian Football Federation), and won with the CIPM (Center for the Promotion of Mediation) the competition dedicated to the theme announced by the Department of the Family of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. As part of this project, she created the first spot against abuse in sports, the trust booklet, and contributed to the training of coaches, athletes, and families.
Daniela Simonetti designed the first statistical research on the phenomenon of violence and abuse in the sports world entrusted to Nielsen with the support of Terre des Hommes, the Candido Cannavo’ Foundation for Sport, and the Vero Volley Consortium. The decisive support of the Department for Sport of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Director of the Italian Scientific Committee, Professor Mike Hartill (Edge Hill University, Lancashire).
Author of the first podcast where abuse victims speak, titled ‘No Coach,’ she proposes a ‘red code’ for sports based on mandatory training for coaches, athletes, families, on the reform of sports justice, and on the awareness of the younger generation in recognizing abuse. In addition to collaborating internationally with the Council of Europe, FIFA, the Army of Survivors, the US Center for SafeSport, The Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF), Daniela Simonetti has promoted the first Italian protocol between the Milan Prosecutor’s Office and CONI for an exchange of information aimed at exposing the phenomenon and protecting minors.
On September 29, 2023, she received the Harmony Award #StopViolence from the Municipality of Monte San Savino and the Semplicemente Donna International Award Association.
Alessandra Marzari, Golden Star CONI for Sports Merit (Golden Star CONI for Sports Merit), president of the Vero Volley Consortium, co-founder of ChangeTheGame, ambassador of San Patrignano, is a doctor at Niguarda Hospital in Milan. She has made sport and innovation the cornerstones of her professional life. From the original motto of the Vero Volley Consortium, “Sports Culture,” followed a few seasons ago by “Sport, Innovation, Social Responsibility,” now the new motto “Driven by Values” focuses directly on the importance and necessity of being inspired by values.
“I was a Taliban: I prohibited any physical contact in my youth teams. No high-fives, no hugs. However, there are many things that can be done to avoid abuses and gray areas: from having two coaches to training for coaches and players. In Serie A teams, shaking hands during substitutions is allowed. But the limits are clear. The staff is numerous, and protection comes from control. If a hug between a coach and a player lasts longer than necessary and hides something else, you see it.”
Alessandra Marzari to Elle, September 22, 2023
Always sensitive to the issue of the protection and safeguarding of children, Alessandra Marzari has brought her commitment with strength and determination to the Vero Volley Consortium. A sports organization that, in its 15 years of existence, has already demonstrated a belief in principles such as courage, foresight, resilience, loyalty, coherence, and responsibility. It is a challenge that not only President Alessandra Marzari wanted to take up but was the first to launch. The Vero Volley Consortium, always alongside ChangeTheGame, is among those sports organizations that have prioritized the protection of the psychophysical well-being of their athletes.
In September 2022, Alessandra Marzari changed the logo, maintaining continuity with its history and reinforcing its principles. The new claim will accompany the institutional and social initiatives of the Vero Volley Consortium and will guide the first teams, the youth sector, the executives, the entire activity because the entire world of the Consortium has the task of showing and demonstrating the profound meaning of being driven by values.
Born on September 5, 1982, he resides in Como. Married to Francesca and father of two children.He holds a degree in Developmental Psychology and works as a business consultant. He has previously served as a sports commentator for Eurosport and contributed to storiedisport.it.
Achievements:
– 2004: Gold medal, absolute world champion in the coxless four
– 2001: Silver medal, 2nd place in the absolute world championship in the coxless four
– 2000: Bronze medal, 3rd place in the junior world championship.
Today Edoardo Verzotti works as a team builder, creator, and founder of Rowinteam. An idea that stems from the core values that rowing can give: perseverance, resilience, and the knowledge of being part of a group. “Where there is a group – Edoardo explains – we work precisely because we have learned first-hand that the lesson of sport improves group dynamics. The main idea is to have eight people rowing at a time plus the coxswain who offers technical knowledge. We follow the group from the speedboat, also looking for difficulty. Rowing together is not easy and implies a lot of synergy in the group”.
The boat used is the one from the mythical challenges between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. “Our main objective is to make our customers think. The dynamics they will find on the boat are the same as in the working environment,’ Verzotti continues, ‘On a boat, you all start from scratch. Hierarchies break down and maybe you find the boss in trouble. I’ll say more, if he alone is good, he won’t get anywhere. The theory of the weakest link within the group is a constant: if the weakest improves, the whole group improves. To do this, one must first know how to communicate, ask for help, cooperate, trust, and connect.
Filippo Galli was born in Monza, he was a great football star, then coach, sports director, and trainer. His career is intertwined with the history of AC Milan because together with Baresi, Maldini, Costacurta, and Tassotti he created the strongest defense in the club’s history. In thirteen seasons with t AC Milan, Filippo Galli won five league titles, four Italian Super Cups, three Champions Leagues, three European Super Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups.
Not only that, as a player he also boasts two important promotions, with Pescara from Serie C to Serie B and with Brescia from B to Serie A, as well as experience at Watford at the time coached by Gianluca Vialli.
The experience gained on the field, the passion for football, and the desire to pass on skills and teachings assimilated during a life spent on the playing field, pushed him to pursue a career as a coach and manager, again at AC Milan. He was the coach of the Milan young sector team and Carlo Ancelotti’s deputy in the first team, also becoming director of Milan’s youth sector for nine years from 2009 to 2018. Leading the club’s youth teams, he won a Primavera Italia Cup, an edition of the Viareggio Tournament, a student championship, a youth championship, and an Under-16 championship. In 2019 he was the coordinator in charge of the Course for Head of the FIGC Technical Sector and Member of the Group for the Development of Youth Football – FIGC Technical Sector. In 2021 he was responsible for the methodological area of Parma Calcio.
Thoughts, reflections, and analyses on the game of football and everything that revolves around it are put down in writing in his blog ‘La complessità del calcio’ (The complexity of football), in which he shares memories but also insights and comments on football and the sport that has been and still is his life.
our volunteers
Our mission
Our goal is to counteract and prevent the phenomenon of physical, emotional, and sexual violence in sports through training programs, toolkits, and awareness campaigns. As the only association in Italy to offer an online format for reporting in the sports field, we assist victims in legal, sports, and psychological settings.
Our numbers
RECEIVED
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our projects
In a few years, Change The Game has allowed the emergence of the phenomenon of abuse in sports by dedicating events, developing the first training courses for coaches, athletes, and families to encourage awareness and sensitization.
The campaign ‘I’m listening to you.’ has been launched, also spread through the Telesia network. In collaboration with the CIPM (Italian Center for the Promotion of Mediation), the association won a tender from the Department for Family Policies, leading to the creation of the ‘Stop abuse in Sport’ commercial, directed by Claudio Casazza, and initiated training models for coaches, families, and athletes. ChangeTheGame has promoted and designed a Protocol signed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Milan and CONI with the aim of combating impunity and inaction. The association has created and produced ‘No Coach,’ the first Italian podcast in six episodes dedicated to abuse and violence in sports. Along with the Department for Sport, the first statistical survey on the various faces of violence in the sports context in Italy was planned, commissioned to Nielsen.
