Arrivederci Alessandro!
by Nancy Wood,
September 8, 2011, page 7.....

Today, September 8, Alessandro Delia leaves for Italy for the opportunity of a lifetime. He has been invited to spend a year playing soccer on the Empoli Youth Academy Team of the Empoli Football Club (FC). Empoli FC is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, about 20 miles west of Florence.
Last year, while a sophomore at CVU, 16-year-old Alessandro spent January through March in Perugia, Italy, participating in a soccer/language program. He took a leave of absence from school and continued his CVU studies there while having what his mother, Lori Delia, described as “a wonderful experience” living in Italy.
In April, after his return to Vermont, his parents received an unexpected call. A scout from Empoli FC had watched Alessandro play and was so impressed he wanted him to come join their youth team. Lori and Alessandro’s father, Tom, were shocked and undecided about what was best for their son. Tom went to Italy in June to look at the club, and after much discussion it was decided to accept.
Alessandro will attend a private school while playing soccer on the team, which has as one of its main goals the development of soccer players. He has been studying Italian with a tutor here and will also there. Most of the boys on the team are Italian.
It has been a whirlwind of activity getting ready to go with the right visas and other preparations. Alessandro’s parents and younger brother Enzo will travel with him to Italy. He will be there for nine months, returning to Vermont only for Christmas. According to Lori, they have relatives in Milan, just a few hours away from Empoli. And she added, “Thank goodness for Skype!”