Pallapugno is looking to expand

In southern Piedmont and western Liguria, when young people say ‘I’m off to play football’, their families know exactly where to find them: off somewhere playing pallapugno, a local sport practised in just two regions, yet at the same time one of Italy’s most literary sports, having been chronicled by Edmondo De Amicis, Cesare Pavese, Beppe Fenoglio and Giovanni Arpino – all authors from this area. ‘Pallapugno’ has only been known by this name since 2001: it was the then president of the Federation, Franco Piccinelli – himself a writer from the Langhe – who had the name changed from the historic ‘Pallone elastico’, a discipline derived from the ancient ‘Pallone con il bracciale’. Today, some older people still call it ‘Pallone elastico’ or perhaps more simply ‘balun’ in the local dialect (our grandparents used to call football ‘football’ out of habit and to distinguish it from the more widely played sport).

Today, the undisputed champion of pallapugno is Massimo Vacchetto, born in 1993, who has two younger brothers who, like him, are batsmen in Serie A. Last year, he won his eighth personal league title in Cortemilia and moved to Cuneo a few months ago. He has the same number of victories on his record as the legendary Augusto Manzo, who passed away in 1982, to whom a statue has been dedicated in Alba, depicting him at the very moment of the hit. Vacchetto, meanwhile, is chasing Felice Bertola’s record of 12 Italian titles as a batter (and a further two as a ‘spalla’). Pallapugno is played by four players: in addition to a ‘spalla’ and two ‘terzini’, there is the batter, who plays a fundamental role, with a significance within the team that is almost unrivalled compared to other team sports. Although Vacchetto is keen to use the expression ‘we won’, fans of this sport very often refer to a match between teams by the names of the two batters. The most spectacular shot is the home run, that is, the hit that flies over the back line. In Piedmont they call it ‘intra’ and that is how Vacchetto refers to it too; in Liguria it takes on an even more poetic name: ‘cielo’.

Vacchetto was already playing at the age of two: at his parents’ house there is a photo of him with his little hand bandaged and a ball. His grandparents were passionate fans; his father won a Coppa Italia, reached the Scudetto final both as a batter and as a catcher, and won several Serie B championships. Paolo, born in 1996, has won one championship and reached two finals against Max. The youngest (but physically the most imposing, born in 2005), Alessandro, is in his third year in Serie A and has so far always managed to avoid relegation.

“We’re really close,” Massimo tells Il Foglio Sportivo. “In our family, we talk a lot about pallapugno, and whenever we get the chance, we train together. Playing against a brother is brilliant and I hope it happens again, but it’s a very strange experience. You want to win whilst trying not to feel bad psychologically about the fact that your brother is losing. Even at the end of the match, it’s a peculiar feeling – one of us is bound to be less happy.”

Vacchetto loves this sport: “It’s wonderful; anyone who gets the chance to try it really enjoys it. The problem lies precisely in its lack of popularity in Italy, but it could be appreciated throughout the country. It needs to be promoted better; we have a wonderful history behind us, including in literature. We’d also need reception centres and federation facilities, starting with the nearest cities such as Turin, Milan, Genoa and Savona. In any case, to get younger people started, you could even play on a football pitch without the regulation back wall. Right now, I still want to play and win, and I wouldn’t have time for anything else. Perhaps in the future, once I’ve retired, I’ll devote myself to all this.”

Over the years, many VIPs have attended pallapugno matches, most recently Gerry Scotti, Gimbo Tamberi and former Torino captain Alessandro Buongiorno (speaking of defenders, in the 1930s Allemandi was a regular at the sferisterio). It’s covered in local newspapers, discussed on the regional TG3 news, there’s a podcast on Spotify produced by a group of young people, and the federation’s website streams the matches. But pallapugno remains a niche sport, even though, thanks to all this and social media, the number of people in Italy who are familiar with it has grown over the years. Perhaps the length of the matches doesn’t help, partly because play always takes place on the same side of the court, unlike in tennis. In some ways it resembles baseball, but the people of Piedmont don’t eat hot dogs and fried chicken during a match that can easily last well over three hours.

Pallapugno is played in a sferisterio (the most famous being the Mermet in Alba, also known as the Maracanà), a clay court 90 metres long and 16–18 metres wide, flanked by a retaining wall topped with a net. “But pallapugno can be played anywhere,” continues Vacchetto, “in a square or down a street. I still play it that way sometimes; obviously, since turning professional, I no longer take part in tournaments.” The variant of pallapugno played on the street is called Pantalera and has slightly different rules, with the serve not being struck with a fist.

Vacchetto, what is your relationship with the two great champions who came before you? “I didn’t get the chance to meet Manzo, but Bertola coached me when I was 17 in Serie B; there’s an emotional bond there. For me, he was an incredible mentor in terms of technique, his approach to the game and his ability to read different situations during a match.”

In an old TV interview that Giovanni Arpino conducted with Augusto Manzo, the champion recounted that after a major victory he would be invited to three different dinners. For him, it was no problem to polish off even a whole chicken in a single evening. Vacchetto smiles: “Manzo had a phenomenal physique. I try to be more scientific; I have a nutritionist who looks after me. I train all year round, at least two and a half hours a day, apart from two weeks’ holiday.”

Vacchetto is also a key player for the national team – yes, because there is also an Italian squad competing in the World Cup, naturally alongside teams from countries where a similar yet distinct sport is played. This is known as ‘international pallapugno’ and Italy recently won the CIJB World Championships in Mendoza: victory in the semi-final against the Netherlands and a triumphant final against the Basque Country, who had knocked out the Valencian Community, the reigning champions. Among others, the squad comprised Paolo, Massimo and Alessandro Vacchetto, with their father Giorgio as head coach. In addition to the main discipline, international play and ‘pantalera’, the Italian Pallapugno Federation also oversees ‘bracciale’, ‘pallapugno leggera’, ‘palla elastica’, ‘wallball’, ‘palla eh!’ and Basque pelota – ‘frontball’.