Calcio Storico 2012 Azzurri

June 17th, 2012

Calcio Storico has been an event that Florentine’s have been waiting for all year. It is a medieval game that has been around since 145o and used to be played with prisoners. It is a mix of boxing, soccer, rugby and hockey with one goal: get the ball behind the opposing players wall. They can use any force necessary (punching, kicking, etc.) in order to get the win and there are no rules. It is common to see players taken off by stretchers and have broken bones by the end. For those Hunger Games fans, it was basically a real life version of it.

There are 4 teams made up of the districts of Florence and my district happens to be “Santa Croce” which is Azzurri (blue). The players are massive and if you can imagine the craziest fan base you know and times that by 10 you’ll have the crowd at Calcio Storico. They threw their water bottles at the players to distract them, the cheer nonstop altogether, and they WILL give you dirty looks if you sit down. They have flags, smoke guns, whistles and everything possible in order to help their team win.

It was intense, and all I can say is thank god our side won otherwise I don’t know how it would’ve gone! We ended up winning 11-0 beating the Santa Maria Novella district which is red. Now our team faces Bianca, which is the district on the other side of the Arno in the finals on the 24th. The game was overwhelming, interesting and addicting to watch all at the same time. The game ended with the players throwing out carnations into the stands for the victory.