After Mirko Monaldi, it is time to hear from ErmGroup Altotevere’s assistant coach, Davide Marra, who also serves as the team’s athletic trainer. The former *Biancazzurro* libero and captain—who boasts experience in the top flight and with the national team—fully endorses his colleague’s comments regarding the team’s placement in the “White” group (covering Central and Northern Italy plus Sardinia) of the Serie A3 Credem Banca championship. “The White group offers a bit more breathing room,” Marra begins, “and we are well-positioned to say so. Had we ended up in the Blue group, we would have faced longer travel distances and the potential risk of midweek matches—something we don’t know about yet—making recovery time crucial; these are situations we have experienced before. We often found ourselves returning late on Sunday nights—effectively into Monday—meaning there was no real rest, and we then had to manage the process of readjusting.”
