"Motorcyclists VS Airmen"

    The sun was scorching Milan that June day. The heat was oppressive, causing discomfort to the 30,000 spectators who had packed into the Arena Civica, waiting for the 15 remaining cyclists—the "survivors," as Gazzetta dello Sport aptly described them the following day—those who had endured to the very end the grueling 18-day, 2,984-kilometre route.

The Giro d'Italia was coming to an end, and the fellow countrymen of Costante Girardengo were awaiting the arrival of the Italian cyclist, who was leading the race, so they could cheer him on. Girardengo's popularity and, by extension, that of cycling were such at the time that it quickly became apparent that it was impossible to find a venue in Milan capable of accommodating the crowds, other than the Arena.

The organizers, who had come up with the idea of charging an admission fee to enter the stadium, knew they had to find a way to justify the cost, and someone suggested that the money be collected for charity, specifically for the creation of a "Physical Education Hall." In order to keep the spectators' interest undiminished until the cyclists arrived, the solution of staging a number of other spectacles, sporting competitions in particular, was also adopted. The programme included relay races, tug-of-war and shooting competitions, all involving military teams made up of officers and enlisted men who, just a few months earlier, had bravely defended the natural borders of their homeland against German and Austro-Hungarian troops.

By Antreas Tsemperlidis

One of the sports on offer that attracted the spectators' attention was one in which ten "athletes," divided into two teams of five, attempted, using only their hands, to put a leather ball through an iron hoop nailed to a wooden square.

Twelve years had passed since that day in Venice when Aida Nomi Venerosi Pesciolini and her students had introduced palla al cesto, yet no official basketball game between men had ever been played on Italian soil until then. And so, on June 8, 1919, on a grass field marked with lines drawn in lime, the motorcyclists of the Seconda Compagnia Automobilisti di Monza lined up on one side, wearing yellow jerseys, while on the other stood the airmen of the Aviatori della Malpensa, dressed in light blue. To be completely honest, and for the sake of historical accuracy, I must point out that the two teams were not strangers to one another, having already met as opponents on two occasions, with Monza emerging victorious both times. First, on April 30 at Malpensa airfield, where the winners prevailed 33–3, and then in Monza on May 16, where the airmen put up more resistance but were defeated again, 13–11. On both occasions, however, the games were unofficial, with no referee, no clock, no halves and, above all, no spectators.

Now, however, the conditions were ideal for the Mugiani brothers, Lieutenant Arrigo and Sergeant Marco, Corporal Sessa and soldiers Bulle and Durante of the Automobilisti, and for Lieutenants Bacarini, Banoli, Balestra and Bianchi and Sergeant Pecolo of the Airmen's team. The referee, William Goldbold, an American pastor of the Young Men's Christian Association, blew the whistle, and the first official basketball game on Italian soil was now a fact. In the following day's edition, Gazzetta dello Sport published an extensive article with a detailed account of the game and its players. The newspaper praised the performance of the "forwards," Bacarini and Bianchi, for the Malpensa team, as well as the stamina of the "center," Banoli. For Monza, it was mainly in the second twenty-minute period that the captain, Mugiani, and the "extremely fast forward," Sessa, stood out. If these terms sound familiar to you and perhaps even "borrowed" (for example, the article divided the players into "defenders" and "forwards"), you would not be mistaken.

Journalists and readers were far more familiar with football, and although the rules of the sport had been distributed to the spectators in leaflets, there was very little time to understand them. Even so, the Italians were thrilled by the new game, passionately supporting the players of both teams, who gave their very best on the court in a truly thrilling contest. Corriere della Sera reported that the final score was 8–8, but it had missed three points for each side: the game had actually ended in an 11–11 draw. The spectators left the Arena Civica satisfied, while the organizers were rubbing their hands with delight over the takings. Everyone was happy, without being able to know at that moment that they had witnessed a historic event in Italian sport.

The seed of basketball had been planted; now the harvest had to begin. Two years later, on December 21, 1921, representatives of ten clubs would sign the "Statuto," the first charter of the Italian Basketball Federation, and would elect the Mugiani brothers, Arrigo and Marco, as President and General Secretary, respectively. Basketball was officially taking shape in Italy, and its pioneers were two of the protagonists of that summer afternoon in Milan...

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