Baseball Coach Beats Cancer: Luca Avvantaggio’s Story

«Sport but, above all, my family and faith have given me the strength to carry on, not to stop and not to collapse, despite the many challenges that life has put before me». Luca Avvantaggio, 18 years old in May, has the look of someone who learned early on to measure pain and recognize the value of simple things. He is one of the coaches of Asd Foggia Red Black, the baseball sports club that fields two teams in the national Serie B and Serie C championships. His is a tough story, marked by three cancers and almost sixteen years spent in lanes, departments and waiting rooms. At eleven months old, cancer affected his eyes, then leukemia and then thyroid cancer which deprived him of it and part of his vocal ability. Yet, as he speaks, there is no anger in his words. There is also gratitude, struggle and life.
Where does he find all this strength?
«Obviously from the family, because without that you can’t go anywhere. Especially the mother. Of course it’s not easy but those who are close to me every day allow me to move forward, to find the strength to fight.”
What was the most difficult moment for you?
«The hardest period was when I was little and I was forced to stay in hospital for almost two years. Two years is a long time for anyone, but for a child it’s an eternity. It means seeing the world from a room, from a bed, from a window. I was little and I didn’t understand why I had to stay in hospital for so long instead of going to school or playing like other children my age did.”
Then came sport.
«My first year at Human Sciences high school was another not very easy period, especially from a psychological point of view. I needed to find new stimuli. I had decided to play sports but it was difficult. I liked volleyball and basketball but due to my health conditions it was necessary to find a sport that was suitable for me.”
In the end he chose baseball.
«It was my brother, who frequents the world of baseball. One day he asked me to go with him. I tried throwing balls. At first I didn’t like it. I was stuck. Then one day a coach, Alfredo, told me: “If you stay for a week you will never leave.” He said it with a smile, but also with conviction. I decided to trust. I stayed. And he was right. Foggia Red Black has become a second family for me. Salvatore and Alfredo Strippoli are my “guardian angels”. Coaching today is a responsibility and an honor: being able to help other kids, passing on what I have learned, seeing their progress is something that fills me.”
What will he do after high school?
«I will definitely enroll in university even if, at the moment, I don’t know which faculty. But I would like to stay in Foggia. I don’t want to leave my territory.”
Why?
«Partly because I would like to continue my task with Foggia Red Black. For me it is very important. They have given me so much and now it’s my turn to give them back. And then because I believe that leaving is wrong. It’s easy to say that there is nothing here. We need to get involved, try to do something for ourselves and for our territory. I understand that it’s easier to walk away. But I’m not like that. I would like to try to demonstrate that Foggia can give a lot.”
Would you like to say something to kids like you?
«Nothing is impossible. If someone really wants it they have to continue down that path. I can’t do it, it’s an excuse. You don’t always win straight away, sometimes you fall, sometimes you go back. But if you keep trying you grow. I have gotten this far thanks to two words that are always alive in me, consistency and dedication. I am convinced that following these two principles nothing is truly impossible.”