BEFORE THE GAMES,
THERE WERE THE BUILDINGS.

Passo Buole was the first professional activity I built seriously on my own — the first time I was the person at the top of the chain when something worked, and when something did not.

The complex had previously been managed directly by the municipality. Taking it on meant creating the operating model from zero: people, opening and closing routines, maintenance priorities, suppliers, scheduling, relationships with users and the municipality, and a way to make the place economically and socially active.

That simple reality changed the way I approached every project that followed. Resources were limited, so maintenance required creativity, judgement and constant prioritisation. It taught me to respect the position of the owner even when I later worked as a project manager, venue manager or freelancer.

Operate it as if it were yours. That mindset has stayed with me ever since.

Homerun 2010 is useful precisely because it does not define the Passo Buole years. It is one example of what could grow out of that facility: a social project, connected to the territory, and the first initiative for which I secured public funding for delivery.

The video survived. That makes it a valuable archive fragment — evidence of a way of thinking that already existed then: create projects around the venue, build institutional connections and use sport for purposes wider than the competition calendar.

It belongs here as a chapter, not as the headline. Passo Buole was eight years of ownership, operations, people, events, maintenance and community — far larger than any single project.