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Silvia Turani: “Rugby has changed my life”

His first time in the field was in Spain, in Erasmus which has always been a period of discovery. Silvia discovered the rugby which has become his sport and his passion, truly the keystone of his life. “They invited me to do a workout. A girl told me it wasn’t for me, then last year she wrote to me to congratulate me on having arrived in the national team ». In the women’s national rugby team, Silvia Turani came from a team that she talks about as a family, the Rugby Colorno.

«I started playing in the third year of university. I was in Parma and I was going back and forth from Colorno where I later moved. Living here I lived as a 100% team while studying and working in Parma. During the time I spent in France I lived in the residences inside the camp, ”he explains. His dedication can also be seen in the story of his days in the last few months without playing due to an injury.

«Wake up at 5.50 am. I make coffee for my father who wakes up later and I go to the gym, my breakfast is in the car while I go to the office. Now I am working in the secretariat in the family business, a temporary situation, while I recover from the injury. From lunchtime onwards I go to the pool, to run or directly to Brescia to do physiotherapy. Then I go back to the office or go home, eat and before I collapse I do some video calls with friends and team meetings ».

His will is told in these days when in the end he inevitably collapses. All to return to that field that she found when she returned from Erasmus. «Everyone told me that Colorno was there, but it seemed to ask Juventus to try to join the team, I had hardly ever played. They did not reply to the first email. I braced myself and called. The coach told me that they would come to pick me up in Parma. I showed up in tennis shoes and leggings. They still make fun of meHe says laughing.

The thing that made her fall in love at the beginning was the variety of training that is done for rugby in both physical preparation and technique. Then came the awareness of having qualities for this sport. “Above all, I found a great human network, a group with whom I share joys and sorrows, this team has made the difference for me.»Concludes Silvia who arrived at the Furie Rosse di Colorno during the years of the coach Cristian Prestera in which the club wanted to give the women’s team a technical staff equal to the men’s one.

“Although we are not, unfortunately, professionals, we have been treated as such. We train like professionals, even then I was doing something more every day ». All to be included in a life that must be defined as normal because these athletes are not professionals: they study or work in addition to playing and training. There are three training sessions a week from 8 to 10 in the evening and if you join the national team, ask for leave for matches. “It is not just a question of salary, but of means and possibilities, of rights”.

Rugby has already brought many people into Silvia’s life, but also “a distortion of life and values”. Silvia stayed in Parma at the University to stay in Colorno, but she also tried to do a year abroad by choosing France where she knew she could play rugby. Then there is an even more personal change. “I was from my teenage years, I had an eating disorder: anorexia and bulimia and after binge eating. I had a terrible relationship with my body, I lived in constant shame. I covered many routes, but only when I started with this sport did the situation change, “he explains.

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From training she moved on to the right diet and a new network of values. “For the first time I talked about my problems.” Without forgetting the international experiences: those of teams abroad, but also those with the national team. «The experience of Barbarians (international 15-a-side rugby club) was totally unexpected and I even had to keep it a secret. I found myself with athletes seen only as idols on Instagram. I left without feeling up to it, but in the end I enjoyed it ».

Hope for the new year? «For me the return from the injury. For the Italian rugby certainly a good world. For all the players who are given the means to be able to develop our potential as much as possible. It is not enough to say that women’s rugby is growing, we must help it in this growth also with quality visibility to show us as credible athletes and become role models for girls who want to start playing ». It is an answer that is not surprising, to give it is a girl for whom rugby is life.

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