Chicago’s Italian and Italo-American communities were able to cheer Italy’s national rugby team over the city’s ‘Rugby week-end Tripleheader’. Teams from Ireland, New Zealand and the U.S. also took part in the event which was held at the ‘Soldier Field’. The high point of the weekend was the match between Ithe Azzurri and Ireland. The Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, welcomed the Italian delegation and the Italian Consul General, Giuseppe Finocchiaro, and exchanged greetings.
The event also enabled the Italian Consulate to promote the Italian culture of sport and spread knowledge of the Azzurri in cooperation with the other local Italian institutions – the Italian Cultural Institute, the Trade Agency – ICE, ENIT, and the Chamber of Commerce. On the eve of the match, a lecture was organized in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute. It was hosted by the University of Illinois in Chicago, which holds Italian language courses. The speakers were Carlo Cecchinato, director of the Italian Rugby Federation and coach Conor O’Shea who discussed the history of the oval ball in Italy and the values it promotes. Many students participated in the debate at the end of the lecture.
