KC21: Modena Athletes Champion Basketball Inclusion

It was a moment of celebration, recognition and shared pride on Friday 19 December in the Sala delle Bifore of the Modena Town Hall. Sports Councilor Andrea Bortolamasi received two young athletes from Modena at the Town Hall, Lavinia Guidotti and Eugenio Pozzi, protagonists of the recent national success of the KC21 team, a team from the ceramic district which for the second consecutive year won the Italian basketball title reserved for athletes with Down syndrome.

The meeting was also attended by the deputy mayor and councilor for Sport of the Municipality of Sassuolo Serena Lenzotti and the deputy mayor of Fiorano Monica Lusetti, to underline the value of a project that was born and grows in a large territory, capable of networking around sport as a tool for inclusion, growth and participation. KC21 is in fact a team from Fiorano, but ideally represents the entire district, uniting athletes, families, educators and fans in a shared path.

Last November the Emilian team, which belongs to Libertas Fiorano, confirmed itself on the top of Italy by winning the Italian C21 basketball title at the end of a three-day match played between Naples and San Sebastiano al Vesuvio. After the success achieved in 2024 in Civitanova Marche, the team coached by coach Marcello Micheloni has demonstrated its ability to confirm itself at the highest level, tackling the championship with maturity, determination and a growing awareness of its own abilities.

In giving Lavinia and Eugenio a gift of the Grosso, the ancient silver coin minted by the Municipality of Modena in the 12th-13th century, Councilor Bortolamasi recalled how important sport is for Modena which is “among the cities in Italy with the highest percentage of public sports facilities per inhabitant, far above the national average. Every year around 850,000 people use these facilities”.