Sports festival in Pontecurone
The Municipality of Pontecurone in collaboration with the local Pro Loco, is organizing the "Sports Festival" for Sunday 24 April: a day of promotion of the various activities that will take place in different parts of the town. Basketball could not be missing, which will be on stage in Piazza Martiri della Libertà in the morning at 10.30 am with a performance by "little basketball players" in the presence of some Derthona Basket players and in the afternoon at 16.00 pm with a match by the "veterans". It will be an opportunity to validate the active collaboration between the Tortona association and the Pontecurone Administration, which this year has consolidated itself in the organization of mini-basketball courses in local schools, but which starts from afar.
Precisely it was 1980, when the unforgettable Juventus player Tommaso "Uccio" Di Matteo, who moved to Pontecurone for work, met Gianfranco Giani, Mario Cairo and Luciano Schettini, basketball enthusiasts. They founded GS Aurora Pontecurone Basket, creating a team based on 7-8 boys from the town strengthened by the "Derthonians" Marco Carboni, Vittorino Rossi and Ermanno Sala. The GiSport and then Aido team took part in the First Division and would do so for fifteen years, winning the championship several times and also trying their hand at Promotion for a few seasons. Over the years, other illustrious Tortona basketball players have been part of it: Bertolotti, Dallerba, Ferrari, Rossi, Bruno, Salvati, Ferraris, Agnello... just to name a few. At the same time, an important commitment also grew in the youth sector, both male and female. At the beginning, it was played outdoors, on a concrete field (which was then approved), on Sunday morning, with a decent following of the public for a discipline that was then unknown to most people. Time passes but the passion remains and many of the players of that time still find themselves in the gym, at the age of 60, for the classic Friday night match.
