Farewell to Leandro Ergelini, historical pillar of Pallacanestro Reggiana
Ergelini, who passed away at the age of 84, dedicated his life to minibasketball and the Biancorossa Basketball School, training young talents.

Leo Ergelini played for Siloplast Novellara in the late 1960s (top)
The family of the Reggio Emilia basketball loses another of its historic pillars. He passed away yesterday Leandro Ergelini, for all Leo. 84 years old, within the red and white club he has covered, in five decades, a bit of all the roles, including that of head coach of the first team, after several years as assistant, at the end of the 1986/1987 season. However, most of his activity has been dedicated to the children of the minibasket. The birth of his beloved is due to him Basketball School red and white, to which he actively dedicated himself together with his wife Anna Covezzi. Under Ergelini's aegis, hundreds of children from Reggio Emilia took their first shots and some of them became top-notch players: starting from Niccolo Melli e Federico Mussini. Among others, Devis Cagnardi and Marco Rossetti, current coach of the Under 19 team and collaborator of Dimitris Priftis at Unahotels, began their coaching careers with him.
A lover of sports in general, before dedicating himself to basketball, in "La Torre", he was one of the first teenagers from Reggio to try his hand at baseball. "Dad was first of all a clear person - remembers his son Enrico - apparently gruff but in reality deeply empathetic once he got to know people. Basketball was daily bread even at home, but he always had many other passions. He liked to grow fruit trees and also had a vineyard. He was also an avid reader of science fiction books from the famous 'Urania' series. He owned almost all of them".
"Of my 24 years spent in the company with Leo - says Alessandro Dalla Salda, former CEO of Pallacanestro Reggiana now in Naples - I have wonderful memories. For the type of person he was and for the great love he had for basketball. He believed so much in introducing young people to basketball and with his wife he was a fundamental point of reference for many young basketball players. He taught the technical fundamentals, of course, but above all he wanted the children to learn respect for others and education. For him, Pallacanestro Reggiana was more than a workplace. He always told me that every week he played the Superenalotto because, if he won a good amount of money, he would give it to the company, so that it would be great forever".
"He was the beating heart of the red and white minibasketball team – says Paola Pifferetti, Ergelini's collaborator in the Basketball School and mother of Federico Mussini – for many years he was present every day in the gym. He was very fatherly with the children and helped in particular those who had difficulty with technique. He also cared a lot about the fact that, in the Basketball School, all the children were welcomed. He wanted them to have fun, there would be time for the selection of talents".
Numerous messages of condolence have arrived on the social channels of Pallacanestro Reggiana. The funeral of Leo, who in addition to his wife Anna, with whom he lived together for almost 60 years, leaves his children Enrica, Luigi and Enrico, will take place on Monday at 15 pm at the Rubiera cemetery where the funeral chapel will be set up.
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