The Mapei Football Center hosted young athletes from the Ancora and Consolata parishes for a leg of the national tournament sponsored by Philadelphia, Lega Serie A, and CSI. Andrea Pinamonti and Sara Mella, Sassuolo Calcio ambassadors for the values of sport and friendship, attended the event.

Yesterday, Tuesday, February 10, U.S. Sassuolo Calcio hosted a special match—one that took place off the field. The Neroverdi hosted at the Mapei Football Center the second leg of the Philadelphia Junior Cup | Keep Racism Out, the national 7-a-side youth soccer tournament dedicated to parish youth centers from the 17 cities of the 2025/2026 Serie A Enilive, , for an afternoon of training focused on reflecting on the values of sport.

The young soccer players, aged 12 to 14, along with the boys and girls from the Neroverde youth academy, met with Andrea Pinamonti and Sara Mella – striker for the men’s first team and defender for the women’s first team of U.S. Sassuolo Calcio – for a session focused on the project’s core values: friendship, respect, and inclusion.

Andrea Pinamonti and Sara Mella shared their experiences with the young people and emphasized the importance of cooperation and teamwork in soccer and beyond.
The young people from the two parishes gave the players the “Soccer is Friendship” jersey, a tangible symbol of the values that the project aims to promote.
The striker and the defender then signed the jersey “”Philadelphia Junior Cup | Keep Racism Out” donated by Lega Serie A to the parish captains, a testament to the project’s educational purpose.

“We are aware that, as professional athletes, we serve as role models both on and off the field so that today’s young people can learn the best from us,” Pinamonti emphasized.

“Events like these are crucial, especially in sports, which should be a vehicle for positive values,” added Sara Mella. – That’s not always the case, which is why it’s important to talk openly about racism and discrimination and to raise awareness among young people.”

Now in its thirteenth year, the Philadelphia Junior Cup once again partners with the “Keep Racism Out” awareness campaign against racism and all forms of discrimination, promoted by Serie A in collaboration with UNAR, the National Office against Racial Discrimination of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

From January to May, young soccer players will compete in local, regional, and interregional rounds to determine the eight teams that will travel to Rome to decide this year’s champion in a special final to be held at the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital, just before the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa final.

The project does not unfold exclusively on the field.
In fact, the tournament’s athletes take part in formation sessions held at the facilities and training centers of Serie A Enilive clubs, alongside Serie A Enilive champions, psychologists, educators, and experts, to explore in depth the importance of the values of sport, with the aim of creating more inclusive environments both on and off the field.
The project helps bridge the gap between grassroots sports and elite sports, as the athletes get to experience life as top champions by entering Serie A Enilive stadiums, both through dedicated walk-around sessions and by competing on the field in pre-match warm-ups for Serie A games.