Lo Sport (Calcio Storico)

In Italy, soccer is not called “Football” like many people think. The name used to describe the Italian National Pastime is “Calcio” (Pronounced Kal-cho). The modern day game of Calcio which is easily the worlds most popular sport, has been played for nearly two hundred years in its current form.

About 800 years ago a different game was played, that loosely resembled today’s modern day match. In Florence the game is called Calcio Storico and every year for the past 800 years, the ancient game is celebrated in the piazza of Santa Croce.

I first heard the legendary tales of Calcio Storico last fall when Italian friends (Only men) would share with me that the event is returning this June after a one year absence. Two years ago, the game was so violent that sixteen players were taken to the hospital for serious injuries, causing a one year suspension!!!

Of course, the sports enthusiast in me desperately wanted to witness such an unusual game and I desperately wanted to take Trey. Anna made it real clear from the beginning that there was no way I was taking our nine year old to a blood and guts show! As the months passed and we neared the day of the event, several of my Italian friends asked if we wanted to go. I hesitated to commit, knowing that I would be in hot water with the wife!

When our good friend Paolo Nannoni asked, I saw my opening. It would be hard for Paolo to do anything wrong in Anna’s eyes (Mine and the kids too for that matter). The “Gentile Giant” was like family and when he told Anna not to worry that he would make sure that Trey and I were OK, that was good enough for her.

Trey and I road the motorino to Piazza Santa Croce in the late afternoon with the great enthusiasm of witnessing something truly unique. The Piazza had been turned into a small arena that seated about five thousand spectators in its mettle bleachers. Tick layers of dirt were thrown onto the cobblestone to create a playing surface acceptable to the roughness that this sport would bring. The windows of the apartments that surround Piazza Santa Croce were filled with fans as well, as their dwellings had been turned into the Italian version of luxury boxes.

The energy level was at a fever pitch and there was not an empty seat in the house when the parade began at 5:30 sharp. Italians love their history and along with that always seems to come a historical celebration in the form of a parade.

The city of Florence is divided into four “Quartiere” (Quarters or neighborhoods) and each neighborhood fields its team from its stockpile of residents. We were there to watch the Azzuri (Blue Team) from the Santa Croce neighborhood, play the Bianchi (White team) from Oltrano (Which is roughly where we lived). Certainly our partiality was to the white team, even though we didn’t know any of the players.

The rules of Calcio Storico are very simply. Each team is comprised of 25 players that are all on the field at one time. The game is played with one ball that is roughly the shape of a basketball. Not having ever held one of these objects, I don’t know exactly how hard or heavy it is, but it seemed to be the texture of a soccer ball but only larger. At each end of the field (Which is completely walled in by four foot high wooden boards) there is netting that extends roughly another four feet high. We will call this the end zone. The object is to get the ball above the boards and in the net anywhere in the opposing team’s end zone. If you do, it’s worth one point. A half a point is scored if you get the ball into the other team’s end zone but above the long cross bar that extends slightly below the top of the net. You can use your feet, you can use your hands and you can throw the ball as far as you want on the field that is roughly the size of an arena football league field. This may sound like the makings of a high scoring affair, but I failed to mention one final point. THERE ARE NO OTHER RULES!

The teams are comprised of two types of players, amateur boxers and amateur Greco Roman wrestlers! Its plan and simply “Smear the Queer” on steroids!

When the parade ended and the match began, the stadium became electric. The ball was thrown high into the air by one of the five referees and the match begins. The only other interjection by an official will be to blow the whistle to break up a dead ball created by a “Dog Pile”. The two teams immediately go right after each other, with seemingly little attention paid initially to scoring points, and a great deal of focus on ass kicking! Throughout the one hour match there were literally dozens of side bar fights that ranged from bare knuckle boxing to rolling around in the dirt wrestling! There was so much to watch that our heads were spinning!

As the game settled in, a strategy began to become more evident. When a team had the ball, much like modern day calico, it was important to keep control of it. What differed from modern day calico was that having the ball meant that you had a bulls eye on your back and were about ready to be pounced on. In fact, when a player had the ball, his sole objective was to advance it up the field as far as he could and hopefully dish it off to one of his lucky teammates before he was slaughtered!

The blue team scored the first goal of the match making it 1-0 and sending their adoring fans into an uproar. The whites quickly responded with a goal of their own. As the game went back and forth the players tired under the heat of the late afternoon sun and the offenses were able to advance the ball with a bit more ease. In the end it was the Azzuri (Blue team) advancing to the finals with a hard fought 5-3 ½ victory.

I don’t think that any players actually were admitted to the hospital, but blood was spilled on the dirt of Piazza Santa Croce that day. As a fan, I cant say that the sport itself has much artist appeal, but every once and a while its always great to see boys being boys and the testosterone levels at peak capacity!