The XLII Italian Bowl, the Italian American Football final organized by the Italian American Football Federation (FIDAF) and the Italian Football League (IFL), was held in Toledo, Ohio on 1 July. The match between the Guelfi of Florence and the Parma Panthers took place at the Glass Bowl, the stadium of the University of Toledo, and was the occasion for a series of events dedicated to Italy starting two weeks before the match. 

ITALIAN BOWL BUSINESS FORUM

On June 30, the Consul of Italy in Detroit Allegra Baistrocchi was able to introduce the Italian Bowl Business Forum, a seminar on business opportunities in the United States and, in particular, in the Toledo area, and at the same time introduce contemporary Italy to local companies. Also accessible via video conference, the event had the objective of presenting the possibilities offered by the State of Ohio to Italian investors and their companies.

In her speech, the Consul was able not only to underline the important presence of Italian companies and workers in the State, but also to present Italy as a country open to investment by local entrepreneurs, focusing - in particular - on those sectors which are more of reference for Ohio: automotive and sustainable mobility; aerospace; biomedicine and life sciences; renewable energy and everything related to manufacturing, from automation to robotics and logistics. Amongst other esteemed speakers were Dean Monske, CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership – Northwest Ohio; Rita Russell, Vice President of Huntington Bank; and Louis Tosi, Lawyer and Director of the National Italian American Foundation, as well as one of the people who brought the Italian Bowl to the United States. In addition to the presentations, for the approximately 80 participants, the event represented an important networking opportunity. Among others present were the former Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando (President of FIDAF, who also attended the match the following day), other members of the delegation from Italy and the representative for the United States of the Italian Olympic Committee, Mico Licastro. In addition to the numerous participants in the live streaming, the recording of the same will be made available to Italian companies that are interested in expanding in this region.

PASSPORT TO THE TASTE OF ITALY and MAYOR'S CUP

From the 18th to the 24th of June, the "Passport to the Taste of Italy" initiative involved 40 local restaurants that offered their customers specialties of Italian cuisine. Customers could then vote for their favorite restaurant and select ten restaurateurs for the final competition which took place on June 26th in a live televised event where three restaurants were awarded for best cocktail, best dish and best dessert.

On June 25th, an American football skills competition, also broadcast on live television, took place between mayors of cities in northwestern Ohio and Michigan. The event was attended by 14 mayors including Toledo Mayor Wade Kapsukiewicz and took place at Central Catholic High School's Gallagher Stadium.

THE MATCH

The two Italian teams of Parma and Florence, who both finished the season with seven wins and one loss, met at the University of Toledo Stadium in front of circa 10,000 spectators. Tickets sold were over 12,000, but bad weather and an air quality alert from wildfires in Canada sadly caused some defections. The match was also broadcast on television through Buckeye TV and, in Italy, by DAZN, thus reaching a large number of fans.

Among the spectators present to watch the match at the stadium, won by the Parma Panthers 29-13: John Calvelli, Executive Vice Chair of NIAF; Hon. Anita Bevacqua McBride, Vice Chair National of NIAF; Gerard LaRocca, NIAF Executive Vice President of National Membership; American football player Calvin Johnson Jr., Hall of Fame inductee; the celebrated writer John Grisham, author of the book "Playing for Pizza", which among other things has a Parma Panthers player as its protagonist; the aforementioned Wade Kapsukiewicz, Mayor of Toledo, and Leoluca Orlando, and members of FIDAF and IFL. Also present were numerous spectators of Italian or Italian-American origin, coming from both Ohio and Michigan (especially thanks to the Federazione Abbruzzese del Michigan, and in particular its President Pietro G. Fuciarelli, who organized a bus from Detroit and thus allowing this community to be represented as well).

This event was the result of the collaboration with Nick Eyde, an Italian citizen and former football player, and Louis Tosi, a leading lawyer from Toledo, undertaken at the NIAF gala in 2021 one month after Consul Baistrocchi took office in Detroit. It was precisely during a conversation between them on that occasion that it was possible to set up a winning synergy involving various institutional and local realities. As reported by FIDAF Vice President Fabio Tortosa, bringing this Italian final to the United States, "where this sport was born, has the characteristics of an epic adventure for Italian American Football". Consul Baistrocchi commented that the real victory was "sports diplomacy", as this event had great resonance and not only amongst the Italian-American community, thus paving the way for future collaborations of this Consulate with FIDAF and CONI.

Consulate of Italy in Detroit:

The Consulate of Italy in Detroit has jurisdiction over the following five states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. For further details, please visit the website:  

https://consdetroit.esteri.it/consolato_detroit