Gigi and Andrea for the Gran Galà della Pallacanestro Cantù

The Christmas appointment of Pallacanestro Cantù will be a great sports event. The company has gone far beyond the classic Christmas dinner-party, organizing the “Gran Galà Xmas Awards 2022” in the presence of sponsors, authorities, the team and guests.

The evening will take place at Villa Argenta in Figino Serenza on Tuesday 13 December starting at 7 pm and will be characterized by the prizes that the company will award to Como personalities who have distinguished themselves, during 2022, in the field of sport and social life in the area .

There will be over 200 guests at the evening, which will be presented by the TV presenter and author Metis Di Meo and the historic comedian duo Gigi Sammarchi-Andrea Roncato (a return to Cantù for the famous Andrea, after his appearance at the 2021 party). And, for everyone, after the prizes, the classic refreshments.

There will not only be “awards” for the sporting successes of the year, but there will also be special prizes and career prizes for those who have distinguished themselves in their sporting, social and professional life, to remember and reinforce, through great personalities, what has expressed and what the territory can continue to express, through new ideas and methods of involvement and participation.

All the awards – they are all top-level names, from the basketball player Gabriele Procida to the volleyball player Simone Anzani, up to the old glories Antonello Riva, Pierluigi Marzorati and Giorgio Cattini – were evaluated and selected by a merit commission, composed of the president Roberto Allievi, by the former Italbasket coach Carlo Recalcati, by the journalist of “La Provincia” Edoardo Ceriani, by the former goalkeeper Simone Braglia and by the general secretary of Pallacanestro Cantù, Luca Rossini.

There will also be “extra-sport” excellences such as the Liceo Melotti and realities also involved in social work, personalities linked to the world of economics and politics.

The goal, among others, is to ensure that this ceremony becomes a fixed Christmas appointment for Pallacanestro Cantù: «It is an event strongly desired by Pallacanestro Cantù which, in addition to the classic exchange of Christmas greetings, aims to strengthen the club’s presence on the territory – explains the president Roberto Allievi -: the institution of these prizes wants to be a tribute to personalities, athletes of yesterday and today, institutions and sports realities of our area, who deserve the credit for having reached the highest levels of excellence in sport and in life».

Walter Sgnaolin, vice president of Pallacanestro Cantù, creator and authentic “patron” of the “Gran Galà Xmas Awards 2022” was excited: «This new recognition will be held annually, precisely to reward the many excellences that are present in our area, in the world of sport but also and above all on a social level.

One aspect, the latter, which will be prominent in the awards: “I am particularly interested – he continues – to underline the commitment of the many sports clubs with social purposes that work daily to promote the integration and inclusion of people with disabilities . Diversity is an opportunity for discussion and enrichment for all of us, one of the most important values ​​of our being a community”.

The nominations are ready, there is obviously a minimum of waiting for the actual winners. The commission of merit of the “Xmas Awards 2022” organized by Pallacanestro Cantù evaluated the sporting achievements of 2002, the athletes with a brilliant career behind them, the economic and socially committed realities of the area.

A specific prize dedicated to basketball could not be missing, to the character from Como who distinguished himself during the year. There are three names at stake for recognition: Beatrice Del Pero (Virtus Bologna), Gabriele Procida (Alba Berlin) and Laura Spreafico (Gernika Bizkaia – Italian national team). The commission will also cover other sports, with the candidacies of Calcio Como, the volleyball player Simone Anzani (Lube Civitanova Marche) and the cyclist Davide Ballerini (Quick-Step). As announced, there will also be prizes for sports clubs with specific and recognizable social goals. A category in which three leading companies for Como and its province stand out, such as Briantea84, Osha Como and Ice Club Como.

And there will also be career awards and special prizes: Antonello Riva, Pierluigi Marzorati and Giorgio Cattini, as well as the Liceo Melotti.