Inter Campus Mexico: Sister Adriana and Karla Gutierrez talk in depth on Instagram

QUERETARO – For our twelfth and final live Instagram broadcast before the summer break, when planning will get underway for new and fascinating content showcasing the world of Inter Campus, we chose to get in touch with Sister Adriana, an organisational representative belonging to a long-standing partner in the form of the Sisters of Saint Marcellina, and Karla Gutierrez, national technical coordinator of the Mexican project and an Inter Campus coach.

Sister Adriana reflected on the foundation and evolution of the project: "The congregation of the Sisters of Saint Marcellina arrived in Mexico in 1984, with our work in Queretaro beginning in 1989. In 2006, the Italian Sister Grazia Pizzarello, visiting for an educational exchange and who was in contact with the Moratti family, began to reflect on the possibility of integrating the social activities already in place and those that the Inter Campus project could bring to the table. In 2010, with the visit of Carlotta Moratti, the project was officially launched, and it is still going today.

Meanwhile, Karla, who has always been passionate about football, met with Christian, the Inter Campus Mexico Project Manager, who told her about the Inter Campus mission. In 2011, she started coaching the girls, discovering, thanks to the methodological training methods of the Inter Campus, a new mission in life!

The key similarity between the Sisters’ approach and the Inter Campus spirit is the commitment to enhancing the life of the individual through the game. At Inter Campus, it’s not about competition. Instead, it’s about trying to integrate all the children who take part, and to make it enjoyable for them.

There are a range of serious difficulties that the Mexican children experience every day, and each hub has to meet the demands of their own specific context, but what unites them is the aim to offer a sanctuary free from crime, drugs and alcohol. Another objective of the project that is both highly topical and of particular importance in a country like Mexico, which is linked to the issue of machismo, is the desire to ensure gender equality. This is achieved by offering young girls the same opportunities as boys and by arranging an annual girls’ tournament involving all of the training camps. The boys are invited along to support as well!

Karla confirms that the remarkable team spirit among all the Italian and Mexican coaches and her trips to Chiapas, where as many as 300 children attended training sessions, are things that have stayed with her.

Our interviewees offered various suggestions for the project’s future: among other changes, they called for a more complete training program for coaches, not only handling the technical aspects of football but also dealing with a wide range of issues, in order to help coaches compensate for the disparities between the children and address their individual needs. They also recommended that we extend the age range of the children and young adults involved. Moreover, they envisage the possibility of future collaboration with the university and the attempt to find a new common path...