What is Sport (or, in the United States, Sports)

An educational/sporting experience known as “Let’s Make a Try!” is presented. The aim of the project was to introduce the sport of Rugby into the contexts of education and schooling, with specific attention to the learning and social aspects. From the context of extramural educational projects – related to the important experience “Progetto Provinciale Extrascuola” (1) in the Province of Bergamo – and a reading of the needs of children from 6 to 13 years old, particularly of those who took part in those projects that aimed at promoting the learning process, the attempt was made to create innovative situations for learning through the proposal of a little known and little practiced sport: Rugby. The experience gave interesting results in relation to the initial problem areas of these minors such as difficulty in respecting rules, the control of aggressiveness, low self esteem, and frustration in competitive situations. Contrary to the opinion commonly held by volunteers and educational professionals, these weaknesses were shown not to be structural, but open to improvement if put to the test in innovative and purposeful ways. The project has brought to life a new way for these children to approach relationships through the discovery of controlled physical contact, the sense of belonging to a group (team), and the taking of personal initiative.