Winning in Athletics and Academics, Andrea Benevelli's Double Challenge
A challenge. One of the many that Andrea Benevelli has in his professional and personal lives. Andrea, a 33-year-old Pesaro native, is a professional basketball player. Starting this year, he plays for Urania Milano, in Serie A2, but he is also a student of the Master in Food and Beverage at the SDA Bocconi School of Management. It is a double commitment that is difficult to pursue but that is what makes it even more inspiring. "It can be done," says Andrea, who has basketball in his blood and destiny. His father Amos won a Cup Winners' Cup and came close to winning a few championships with Scavolini Pesaro. "Studying and playing top-level sports is a challenge that can be won," he says.
Andrea's degree in physical education would allow him to stay in the world of sports. At the moment, however, this is not the future he imagines for himself: "I chose the Master in Food and Beverage for a number of reasons. It is an international master that focuses on food, which is fundamental for an athlete, and this is the sector where I have the greatest prospects for starting a business in the future. But at the moment nothing is finalized."
The combination of studying and sports is a fixed thought for Andrea, he wants to set an example for the younger generations and maybe even do something concrete: "It's easy for a kids who are 18 and earning enough money to think about dropping out, but it's a cardinal sin. Sport is full of examples of great athletes who have gone bankrupt because they weren't prepared for the future. I would like to work with GIBA, the basketball players' association, following the example of what the NBA does through their analogous association, the NBPA. It organizes training courses, like the one with SDA in Milan."
Andrea is not the only graduate on the Urania team: "And this is great. When you're young, you don't think about it, with games, changing teams and cities, like I did, almost every year, it's all very simple. After 30, the maturity that leads you to think about the future takes over. Players have a lot of free time, so they should use it to enrich themselves culturally and prepare for the future."
As for his profession, Andrea returns to the concept of the challenge, which represents the choice to play on a historic Milanese basketball club, but which debuts this year in Serie A: "Last year I moved up to A1 with Fortitudo Bologna, a fantastic experience that ended in the best possible way. Bologna is a city that lives on basketball, wherever you go you get recognized, there is a lot of enthusiasm. I will never forget the decisive promotion game with 5,000 fans celebrating. In Milan, the city of Armani's Olimpia, those of us on Urania, whose home court is the historic Palalido, must earn our space and do well in the championship, then we'll see."
At 33, an athlete is in the descending phase of his career, but Andrea Benevelli doesn't want to label it: "I have been a professional athlete since I was 17, but I don't set limits. It is, as I said, a question of challenges to be pursued and faced. Just three years ago, for example, I never imagined I would be here..."