Monday 1st July sports Center of the Vigna di Valle Air Force has crossed the prestigious milestone of 60 years of activity.
In 1964 the Air Force General Staff decreed the establishment of a new department that would respond to the need to coordinate all competitive sporting activity, which until then had been practiced in an inorganic and amateur manner. After a careful analysis, the ancient seaplane base of Vigna di Valle was chosen as the headquarters of the new institution as it contained all the requirements to be able to host athletes and have the facilities necessary for a high-level sports centre. Work was necessary to adapt the existing structures to the technical-logistical needs of the new department established: the field for the maneuvers and testing of the automatic landing systems of the airships made room for the athletics track, while the large Saporiti hangar, initially used for maintenance of the Air Rescue seaplanes, was internally renovated to accommodate a covered basketball court with two side stands for the public.
Among the first disciplines hosted in Vigna di Valle, in addition to "noble" sports such as Fencing, already born within Palazzo Aeronautica since 1947, we also remember the queen of disciplines, Athletics, and minor ones such as Hockey on grass and roller skating which in any case contributed substantially to fueling the CSAM's palmares, always growing in terms of national and international titles.
In 1971, with the contribution of CONI, a program of modernization and expansion of the support structures began with the construction of new accommodation, including offices, briefing rooms, canteen, recreational club and dedicated rooms to accommodate over 100 athletes who, at the time , carried out military service. Thanks to a new contribution provided by CONI, the sports facilities were modernized in 1985: the athletics field, basketball field and the weapons room. Other major works to modernize and strengthen the structures were carried out in the following years, including the complete renovation of the tartan track and the construction of a new training room. The new structures of the Sports Center were inaugurated in the spring of 1989 by the then Minister of Sport, Tourism and Entertainment Franco Carraro, already an airman and athlete in Vigna di Valle during his military service.
A special birthday spent at work for our athletes and technicians, who on the occasion of the Italian Athletics Championships gave themselves 4 titles: in the Shot Put (Chief Airman Leonardo Fabbri), in the 400 Hurdles (chosen Airman Alice Muraro), in the Triple Jump (1st Airman Daryia Derkach) and in the Discus Throw (1st Airman Alessio Mannucci). Next objective, the Paris Olympics which will begin at the end of the month and will see a large group of our athletes present.
Since its establishment, the main mission of the Air Force sports center has been to ensure, in competition with the relevant Sports Federations, the protection and improvement of high-level competitive sports activities carried out by military athletes of national interest belonging to the Blue Army. Over the years, Vigna di Valle has been a hotbed of talent: many well-known names who have followed one another for short periods, during compulsory military service, or in recent times as "career" athletes. In line with the operational mentality of Forza Armata, in continuous transformation, the CSAM is also a dynamic body and always in step with the times, both in the disciplines practiced by the athletes, both in the equipment and in the technical staff of the highest level.
