Inglese Novelletto - Bowling Italia

In the gallery of great figures in Italian bowling, Vittorio Novelletto is absolutely a must, for all those who knew him "Il Capo". Born in Mantua (Monzambano - MN 22/3/34) but living in Milan by adoption, having moved to the Lombardy capital at the age of seventeen, Novelletto has been in the spotlight for over thirty years, achieving success everywhere. He approached bowling immediately, as soon as the new sport imported from overseas arrived in Italy, and already in 1963 he founded the club in which he would play until his retirement from the slopes: the Cobras Curiously the name of the club, it was not born in fact referring to the poisonous snake which in any case would become the symbol of the association, but from the initials of two of the founders (COlombo and BRAghieri) who together with him founded the Milanese sports association. From the first days of the club's existence, Novelletto took over its leadership, thus earning the nickname that would never abandon him: the Boss. Under his leadership, the Cobras established themselves throughout Italy and Europe, with victories of the highest prestige, which always saw him as a protagonist.

Over twenty successes have been achieved in European tournaments: Aix en provence, Cavalaire, Draguignan, Annecy, Bordeaux, Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, Brussels, and Paris are the cities where Novelletto triumphs alongside his formidable men.

In Geneva he won the doubles three times and the team once, in Brussels he won the invitational doubles twice, a sort of European doubles championship to which the best players from the old continent were invited. Bordeaux saw him climb to the top step of the podium, in one of the richest team tournaments held at the time, but the victory that definitively established Cobra as one of the strongest clubs in Europe was that of the five-man team tournament in Paris, where the Milanese team swept the European teams.

Novelletto boasts twenty-two call-ups to the senior national team, and his name is linked to the best result ever of the Italian national team: the third place obtained by the team he captained, at the 1971 World Cup in Milwaukee (USA) E’ came second in the AMF World Cup, in the edition held in Dublin, and third in the same event, when it was held in London. A three-hundred-year-old and multiple Italian champion in various disciplines, he has won dozens of tournaments throughout Italy. Quantifying the number is almost impossible, but with a good approximation, we can speak of around a hundred victories within national borders.

In September 1994, after having had a dazzling start to the season that saw him win the doubles title at the national tournament in Novara, Novelletto was involved in the tragic collapse of a house on Viale Monza in Milan.

Thanks to his strong fiber, the Capo managed to overcome this terrible experience and the following year he managed to win again in the national doubles tournament in Lissone, together with one of the great teammates of the past: Ermanno Guglielmi. This last success represented his swan song. Two years later he retired from the competitive scene, leaving Milan and moving to Valeggio sul Mincio (VR).

However, he did not lose the desire to compete, and therefore returned to an ancient passion of his by starting to practice the sport of bowls again, which he had abandoned to switch to bowling.

His winning nature also helped him accelerate his career in his new sporting career, and with his successes he won the A category in about three years. He also currently works as an instructor for the little ones, who are new to the world of bocce.

In Novelletto, the Italian Bowling Sport Federation rightly recognized the honorary life membership card, and the national CONI also presented an official recognition for sporting merit, to the man who is generally considered one of the greatest athletes Italy has ever had.