Lorenzo Sebastiani (28 September 1988 – 6 April 2009) was an Italian rugby union player who played

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

for

L'Aquila Rugby L'Aquila Rugby 1936 was an Italian rugby union club based in L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo. The official colours of the club were black and green, the colours of the city of L'Aquila. The club went into liquidation and disbanded in 2018. Hi ...

Rugby career

Sebastiani was born in Aquila,

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, and entered the youth team of the local

in 2005. As a newcomer in the National U-18 squad in 2005, he took part to the

FIRA Firá ( el, Φηρά, pronounced ) is the modern capital of the Greek Aegean island of Santorini (Thera). A traditional settlement,http://www.visitgreece.gr Greek National Tourism Organisation "Firá" derives its name from an alternative pron ...

youth European Championship getting the 3rd place, and then, with the Under-19 team, won the Division B World Championship category. On 23 December 2007 he made his debut in

serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, against Rugby Badia.

Earthquake and memorial

At the moment of his death Sebastiani was a guest of a teammate. The house was shaken by the earthquake that hit L'Aquila on 6 April 2009 and he died when the house collapsed. In his memory the

Italian Rugby Federation The Italian Rugby Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Rugby) or FIR is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Italy. The FIR has one seat on the 28-member World Rugby Council, the governing body of World Rugby. (All other members of ...

named after him the Centre- and Southern Italy's branch of the Youth Rugby Academy which is based in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Dedications to Lorenzo Sebastiani include: * 2009 : Indoor stadium of

Rocca di Mezzo Rocca di Mezzo (locally ''La Rocca'') is a ''comune'' and town in the Province of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is home to the seat of the Sirente-Velino Regional Park The Sirente-Velino Regional Park (Italian: ''Parco regio ...

"Lorenzo Sebastiani" * since 2011 : Annual rugby memorial tournament "Lorenzo Sebastiani" in L'Aquila *2013 : A park in

San Donà di Piave San Donà di Piave (; vec, San Donà ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. It is one of the historical main towns of the ''Eastern Veneto'' territory, although it was totally reconstructed in the ...

, in

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, has been renamed Parco Lorenzo Sebastiani.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastiani, Lorenzo Italian rugby union players Sportspeople from L'Aquila 1988 births 2009 deaths Rugby union props L'Aquila Rugby players