12 January 2017 LA VOCE

Sports PEOPLE

by Elena Ferrarin

his focus is on stabilizing the organiza-tion financially. He created a board of ad-visors based in the United States to helpgarner donations and launched a Go-FundMe campaign.“We want next to start a teen flag

program for under-20 girls,” he says.“The boys’ programs serve as our feedersystem, as they are taught basic skillsthat high schools should. Plus, we adver-tise with fliers, billboards, in the univer-sity and gyms, and for the teens we visitthe schools.”More than 40 percent of teenagers

and college graduates in Catania are un-

employed, Zappala says. “That makesCatania one of the prime recruitinggrounds for the mafia,” he says. “Myview is that sports like football teachbasic things like discipline, teamwork,character building and so on that are crit-ical skills that can be used throughoutlife.”None of the coaching staff of Ele-

phants Catania gets paid, with all themoney going to team expenses such asrental fees, equipment and travel, hesays.“This year, we will face three differ-

ent teams from Rome, and that meansthree different flights for the team. We donot stay overnight. We fly in, take a busto the stadiums that we play in, give the

Alfred Zappala, the new generalmanager of the Elephants Catania footballteam in Sicily, has come full circle from ayouth spent playing football in a town ofSicilian immigrants north of Boston.He played in high school and college

and then coached at the high school, col-lege and semi-professional levels. He alsocoordinated a tryout for the CanadianFootball League. “My experience as aplayer and coach and the lessons Ilearned on the field, I try to pass on,” hesays.Zappala, 66, a lawyer by trade, took

the helm of Elephants Catania — at no

pay — in July after being asked to do anassessment of the non-profit organiza-tion.Elephants Catania has a men’s and

women’s team and two teen flag footballprograms with a total of 80 to 100 partici-pants each year. Its current head coach isDavide Giuliano, who also serves as soc-cer coach for Italy’s national footballteam.The Elephants played for Italy’s divi-

sion one Super Bowl championship in2014, but then dropped to the second di-vision. Zappala’s goal is to help raise histeam back to the top.Current costs are at $80,000 annu-

ally, which will about double to $150,000in the first division, he says. Short-term,

� ALFRED ZAPPALAA football coach on the high school,college and semi-professional levels inAmerica, he is dedicating himself to res-urrecting a former pigskin powerhousein the land of his ancestors.

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players a bagged lunch, and after thegame, we fly home. We use airlines thathelp us by giving the team discountedfares.”Zappala lives most of the year in Aci

Catena, about 4 miles outside Catania,and comes back to the United States formajor holidays. His biggest challenge inItaly is the language, he says.“As a Sicilian American, I was

brought up using the ‘old’ immigrant lan-guage and not modern Italian,” he says.“However, I manage to get the pointacross.”Football has grown in popularity in

Italy, which counts 40 teams across fourdivisions. “It is growing by leaps andbounds,” he says. “Now, Europeans canpurchase the NFL game pass and watchNFL games on their computer. The NFLhas been playing games in London,which get heavy coverage, too. Whilefootball is far behind soccer, and there isnot a single school with a football pro-gram, it is growing.”Zappala keeps plenty busy in other

ways, too.He continues to practice law with his

Sicilian partner of 20 years. He’s the cre-ator of “You, Me and Sicily!” an internet-based video show, and founder andchairman of the non-profit Sicilian Proj-ect, which provides kids with free Eng-lish-language instruction. He has writtenfour books on Sicily and does smallgroup tours locally.“Basically,” he jokes, “enough to

keep me out of trouble.”