As I was planning this trip, I tried to find a soccer game for us to attend so Bella could get an authentic taste for how nutty Europeans are for the game. Unfortunately, the season for the professional teams ended in May. But, I happened on information about Calcio Storico - a historic round robin soccer tournament played in Florence between the four main neighborhoods. As it happens, the tournament is while we are in town. It looked a little brutal from the You Tube clips that I watched, but our kids have seen enough hockey games to get behind a good brawl during a sporting event.
Today was the first game in the tournament - Bianchi di Santo Spirito (our neighborhood team) versus Rossi di Santa Maria Novella. And, I had no idea how this day was going to turn out. Either I was going to be running from the stadium with two kids in tears from the crime scene they had just witnessed or the kids would be joining the riotous crowd and throwing molotov cocktails with the other fanatics. Turns out my kids quite enjoy a brutal game with beatings, particularly Scarlett.
The first success of the day was that I had properly purchased our tickets and we were able to easily find the will call, our entrance gate, and our seats. As some of you may recall, I had to use a website in all Italian (with no translation function) to buy the tickets. I was extremely relieved to have the tickets in hand. Our seats were great - basically center of the field four rows up from the action. The difficulty was that people stood right by the security fence in front of the first row, so we had to stand on the bleachers to see anything (and I had to hold Scarlett as much as possible to give her a better vantage point).
While the game was only fifty minutes, this "historical" match had a pre-game performance that include drummers, flag bearers/throwers, military re-enactors, mounted cavalry, clergy, and some sort of oxen all dressed to the nines in historical garb. While everyone loves a parade, we were anxious to get to the beatings. Each team fields twenty-seven players and there are no substitutions. All fifty-four players are on the field at once with a running clock (no time outs, no stoppage for injury, etc). The ball can be passed in pretty much any manner (though it mostly resembled rugby as opposed to soccer). There are two end lines of which the entire length is the goal. Teams change sides after a goal is scored. A goal is one point and the team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
We had been warned that the first fifteen minutes or so of the game are a total brawl. I wasn't too sure how much blood would be flying and was glad to learn that in recent years they have added some "rules of civility" to the contact part of the game. Basically, fights can only involve two people at a time and can last for as long as both parties can endure. No sucker punches or kicks to the head, but head-butting, punching, clothes-lining, choking, and elbowing are allowed. EMTs are on site (and on the field) to attend to anyone who gets severely injured - they actually spent a lot of time distributing water to the players.
When the initial whistle sounded to start the game, it looked like twenty boxing matches were simultaneously occurring. The offensive players pretty much hang back from the boxing action. It honestly took us about ten minutes to figure out if there was even a ball on the field or if this was just the pre-game slug fest. There was one extremely gigantic guy on the Rossi team who looked intent on using his striking power. He proved to be a formidable opponent. However, Bianchi had a few thugs too. But, better yet, we had break away speed.
While Bella was extremely interested in the strategy of each team, Scarlett was more excited by the gashed eyes and flying round house kicks. I fear that she may be attracted to MMA fighters in the future. The kids loved the excitement of the crowd - cheering and giving high fives when Bianchi scored. There was honestly so much happening on the field at one time you didn't know where to look. When the final whistle blew, Bianchi had secured the win with a 3-0 score over Rossi. I wasn't sure if there was post-game pomp and circumstance too so we sort of hung around for a few minutes. Fans from each team rushed the field and the number of people in the action tripled. It looked obvious that the beatings were going to continue, so I quickly dragged the kids out the nearest exit gate for a quick getaway.
Even though nothing about Calcio Storico resembled soccer, we all had a fun time. It was a perfectly balanced train wreck - there were enough beatings and resulting blood to make it exciting, but not so much violence that you were repulsed or sickened.
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