DDI Italy is present in 15 Italian cities, and works with 24 diving schools and 20 associations.
Et already has 40 disabled people enrolled in its courses + 200 disabled participants in the "No Barrier Tour" (free trials throughout France); at the same time, it trains over 150 instructors for disabled divers nationwide.
DDI Italy's mission is to :
- To offer and promote access to a wonderful passion (diving) regardless of an individual's disability, and to stimulate friendship between people;
- Train 152 new instructors, enabling them to teach this sport to hundreds of disabled people nationwide;
- Purchase some of the equipment needed to achieve the project's objectives;
- Encourage the creation of a cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration network between local associations;
- Ensure project sustainability;
The project, supported by the Decathlon Foundation, involves Decathletes from 19 Italian Decathlon stores.
Luigi Cordioli recounts the genesis of his involvement with the association and the key moments shared between the association and its beneficiaries.
"I began my experience at DDI Italy about four years ago, a little to enrich my knowledge as a diving instructor and a little out of personal curiosity. At first, I didn't have many expectations, but perhaps a lot of curiosity about discovering a world that was foreign to me... disability.
As time went by and I took classes in the pool, I got to know the environment, the people and the young people who came to the class every week, each with their own personal history and specific problems.
That's how I began to enter into a whirlwind of emotions that hardly anyone normally experiences in life; It's impossible for me to describe the joy of seeing a boy dive into the pool with all those things on him, to describe the sense of satisfaction that shines from his eyes at the end of the lesson.
As a DDI instructor and project leader within the company, I played an active role throughout the project. I took part in the active training sessions every week, and was in charge of the coordination between the diving schools and the local Decathlon referents, who in turn acted as Decathlon reference points in the various towns.
I realized that during these moments in the pool, these people experience emotions and sensations that lead them away from their daily lives and into a world made up of joy, entertainment, concentration, physical training, but above all, cohabitation, aggregation and sharing. That's how I came to think of the Decathlon Foundation, and how we could do something that would bring these emotions to as many people as possible."
Luigi Cordioli, at the time of the presentation of the Rayon Manager project in the Decathlon Cinisello store in Milan, and today Project Leader for the Fenc'it brand (fencing) at Decathlon.