"Player of the decade 2000-2010", was captain of the Senior National Team of Basketball: 203 appearances and more than 1,700 points, 23 seasons played in the A1 series, 15 championships and the "numbers" of his palmarès are many more.
Raffaella Masciadri is an important piece of the history of the Italian women's basketball and beyond.
She is the one who also lands in the FIBA World Players Association (World Basketball Players Association) of which Dirk Nowitzki is president.
A life dedicated to sport, the sport that is his life.
Today, in his second consecutive term as President of the CONI Athletes Commission, continues its efforts with the sportivedigitali.it dedicated to the empowerment, training and dual careers of young female athletes of all disciplines.
Character and tenacity to spare, determination as only great champions can convey, and a lot of expertise. As well as anecdotes and stories from those who lived the greatest of sports fairy tales...
We met Raffaella Masciadri in the aftermath of the Athletes Academy event held in Coverciano on March 29, in the setting of the Museum of Football. A training event dedicated to athletes of all kinds and Olympic and Paralympic disciplines who want to invest in their post-career professional future.
An educational day organized in partnership between Sport Business Academy e Digital Sports which wanted to focus attention on the issues of dual careers, empowerment and training.
The Athletes Academy event has recently concluded. What is the balance sheet?
The balance of the event was definitely positive. I would say that as Athletes Academy's first real outing being hosted in the Football Museum thanks to the Foundation chaired by Matteo Marani, we could not have asked for a better start. Its setting gave the event
an even more exciting and certainly more engaging connotation from all participants. I thank all the people present and it was very constructive to create a time of sharing about sports and its aspects.
From captain of the National Basketball Team to President of the CONI Athletes Commission in his second consecutive term. What are the differences between these roles and what does it take to fill both?
The main difference between these two roles is definitely the fact that I no longer wear the playing uniform but the executive uniform. The second is that I no longer work only with a group of women, but now the work teams are mixed: male and female. They are still two roles that intersect, involve each other, and above all, equate each other. The similar aspects that I have found in filling these two roles are as follows.
A) Leadership: being a captain on the field and president of the athletes' committee means being able to manage a team that needs to work together to achieve goals
communes. Personally, I am a great believer in "silent" leadership, that which conveys thought through example. Clearly, verbal expression is also very much needed, and in this aspect, I have learned a lot from the field how it is appropriate to use tones and expressions dedicated to the interlocutor with whom I am interfacing.
B) Respect for roles and hierarchies: this aspect for me is the Bible for every situation in life, not only in sports. Working in a team with different personalities is never easy, but to achieve the best performance of each of its members, it is necessary to put ego aside, be clear about roles and know how to respect them. This I have always required as captain and president.
C) Positive ambition: another common characteristic between being a captain and president is the healthy competition that allowed me not to be afraid in front of the choices I had to make, even the most challenging ones. Having dreams and trying to achieve them with the means one has, I believe is an added value of people who have a healthy and positive ambition.
How has your career in the field helped you play the role you play today?
As a basketball player, the aspects that have always set me apart were: determination, organization of time and work, dedication, spirit of sacrifice, adaptation, problem solving, and teamwork skills. These that I have listed are some of the aspects that I find every day when I sit behind my desk in the office or when I am on the sidelines. Having lived and experienced them as an athlete has allowed me to reach the realization that sports helps a woman (in my case) shape herself as a person first and as an executive later. The phrase "sport is a gymnasium of life" fully represents this concept and I can only thank basketball that has given me the opportunity to mature, even faster than I would have believed.
How important is it today that there are events like the one held in Coverciano, and how important is it to talk about dual careers?
Events like the one we held at Coverciano are essential, especially in a social moment like the one we are going through. It is essential and urgent that athletes realize both how fortunate they are to be in the sport where they can demonstrate their talent but also how important it is to lay the foundation of dual careers while they are active and above all that training never ends. Dual career is a tool through which every athlete has the opportunity to compete and win both as an athlete and as a person. Bringing sport and study side by side is possible and, these training moments like Athletes Academy, are concrete proof that it can be done. I am convinced that bringing practical examples from those who have already crossed or are crossing this road is the right stimulus and positive example that today's athletes need. Also because the more trained athletes there are in the sports world, the better benefits this industry and beyond will have!
What does the sports world need, in your opinion, to create complete athletes and professionals?
The world of sports, in order to create complete athletes and professionals, needs to be provided with appropriate tools for them to study, experience and challenge themselves. The goal is nothing less than the evolution of the sportsman and his world, so that the athlete chooses the best path, leveraging his talents and inclinations. We need to be able to stimulate athletes to ask themselves the right questions, "what do I want to become," "toward what subject do I feel a great interest," "what aspects can I bring from the field into the study," "do I wish to continue working in the world of sports?" In my case, the pathway called "Time- Out Project," promoted by FIBA (international basketball federation) in 2017, allowed me to be able to take advantage of the
potential as a player and to be able to fall back on experience and personal characteristics not only on the field, but also and especially in the professionalism of the sports manager I would become. Projects such as this should aim to get athletes into the
world of work, offering the post-career vision in advance and supporting their training while they are still working.
Who is the sports manager of the future? What characteristics must he or she have?
The sports manager of the future has and will have different nuances, especially as a result of the digital transformation of sports, which has allowed for the creation of management figures that are different from each other. From the most structured companies to the least, there are now various sports managers, such as: the marketing manager, the sponsorship manager, the athletes manager, and the media manager. Their primary characteristics involve those of marketing management and revenue strategies; company image; athlete image; and sponsorship and media rights management.
Women's sports, gender equality and diversity: where are we in Italy and what needs to be done so that certain cultural "barriers" still present in many layers of society can be eliminated?
In Italy regarding women's sports and gender equality, huge strides have been made, but still not enough to give full visibility to these categories. The UN's 2030 agenda has listed gender equality as one of Sustainable Development Goals, and each state
European, including Italy (although we are in 14th place), is promoting its own strategies. Beyond these institutional actions, even transversal ones, I believe it is essential to eliminate barriers through the promotion of positive models on the three issues mentioned. So as to break down cultural and gender stereotypes both through educational initiatives to be carried out in schools and universities, and through dedicated communication campaigns, with attention to the target audience of women with disabilities and in general to the risks related to multiple discrimination. With regard to the promotion of women's sports, Alessandra Ortenzi and I initiated the "Digital Sportswomen" project. With this format, we want to give voice to all those female athletes who have a life on the field to tell, a story of empowerment and dual career undertaken at the end of their sporting career and a rebirth in a whole new role (in sport or out). Just to show how sport is the most direct and effective means of social communication.
