Marco Picchi: ʺWe want to continue to be a point of reference for the city. We care about the foundations for the future of the Club"
The delicate health moment that has affected the entire nation has also stopped the entire world of sport, including basketball. Our CEO Marco Picchi wanted to give an interview to the official website of the Club analyzing the situation of the Tortona community, deeply affected by the Coronavirus emergency, commenting on both the timely and preventive decision to suspend the activity starting from the first days of the month of March and then focusing on what the future of national basketball and in Tortona could be.
The current situation in Tortona is truly delicate. Let's start from here: how is it being experienced at community level? And how important is it to support all initiatives in favor of the city?
ʺIt is evidently the worst and most difficult period that our community has ever experienced after the war. This emergency, in a provincial reality, has an even "stronger" impact because - in the end - the truth is that here we all know each other, greet each other and frequent the same places. Dealing with the loss of a fellow citizen on a daily basis is heartbreaking.
Regarding the health emergency, the Club acted promptly by suspending training even before the Government's decisions arrived: how important was it to protect the human aspect of the individual members of the club in this decision?
ʺWe honestly had a hard time in the first few weeks when, with schools already closed, it was still possible to open the gym to our kids. This seemed like an obvious inconsistency to us. I must therefore thank Dr. Pia Camagna and Dr. Alessandro Soldini who, first, warned us about what was happening. For at least two weeks we have had the real perception that this sporting season is formally over and I believe, in this sense, that the decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympic Games has opened everyone's eyes.
Derthona Basket is proving to be very united in this difficult moment also through the initiatives promoted by the Club: how important it is to involve all the various components (fans, partners, athletes, children, families) who animate the life of a club, making them part of a big family?
ʺWe believe we are not only a sporting but also a social and human point of reference for Tortona. We have been so for 65 years and we would like to continue to be so, especially at a time when fear and uncertainty are feelings that reign throughout the population. I would like to say that Derthona Basket is there and will always be there and can't wait to return to welcome first of all its children who just want to have fun. We would like to study a plan that can put all our partner companies back in touch with each other who will inevitably have to face the challenge of getting back on track: therefore we would like to continue to be a vehicle for all of them too.
In your interviews you have often spoken with great pride about the continuous and constant growth in the number of club partners. At this moment, what initiatives are being studied or underway to involve them and what do you feel like telling them also in view of the near future?
ʺI would like to meet all our partners and ask them to stay with us. They will be faced with a society perfectly aware of the upheaval that has affected the entire world economy; we have no intention of forgetting the companies that have supported us in recent years, allowing us to grow.
How do you imagine the future of national basketball and, in this, where and how do you think Derthona Basket can fit?
ʺBasketball as we have known it in the last 10-15 years no longer exists. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will be able to rewrite the rules and save the movement we all love. When I read proposals for the future with cost reductions on a 15-20% basis I wonder if there is a real perception of the change underway. The clubs will have to reduce their budgets by at least 40% to survive, also because we will emerge from a season that will inevitably leave consequences on the budgets. I make an appeal to all A2 companies: let's talk to each other and make shared proposals. Salary cap, minimum wage, reduction of agent commissions, reduction of federal fixed costs, incentives for sponsors who still want to invest. There are many themes, let's write the white paper of amateur basketball putting the clubs at the centre.
And, linked to the previous question, how will the Club's programming be set up next season?
ʺWe have started making assessments about the near future. The discussion with Doctor Beniamino Gavio is daily and the choices are always shared. I would like it to finally be the season in which the Cittadella dello Sport project will take shape, because only private initiatives of this type will be able to relaunch the world of sport and social life in all its areas. It will be a zero year, we will have a decidedly lower budget than in the past but, at the moment, more than sporting objectives we care about the safety and foundations for the future of the Club. We would certainly like to maintain an important commitment to be allocated to the development of the youth sector ; I believe that the proportions of investment between the first team and the youth sector will change in favor of the latter. Tortona will return to watch basketball, I can guarantee this.
We close with a question about the first team: how and from whom would the Club like to restart in the near future?
ʺI would like the core group of players and staff to remain with us. They were chosen first of all because they are deserving people, they have demonstrated this over the course of the year and I extend my hand to them. They know perfectly well that my cell phone is always within reach. If they want to talk about a future in black and white and do so with a sense of responsibility, they will find the doors wide open.
