By Giulio Piovaccari
MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Italy forward Kayla Tutino has rallied one of the largest and loudest fan contingents at the Winter Olympics, with nearly 50 relatives and friends supporting her underdog women's ice hockey team as it secured a berth in the quarter-finals.
The Montreal-based clan, led by Tutino's mother Diana Di Iorio as "expedition chief", travelled from Canada to support the 33-year-old.
"There were people coming and going, but with family members, cousins, relatives
and friends, overall we had almost 50 people here," Diana, a retired aesthetician, told Reuters. "We had 56 jerseys made for the occasion."
The group stood out at the Milan arenas, donning white and light-blue Italy jerseys emblazoned with Tutino's name and her number 82. At one point, the family counted at least 40 members attending a single game.
"We're not normally loud people, but this time, because we wanted to celebrate Kayla being in the Olympics, we're a bit louder than we normally are, and so we attracted attention," her father George said.
Kayla, who scored Italy's first goal at the Olympics in their win over France, is among several dual-national Italian-Canadian or Italian-American players representing the host nation in a sport with limited domestic following.
Her family's roots run deep in both countries. Kayla's mother was born in Rome and moved to Canada with her family at the age of three. Kayla's father, 64, owner of a construction material supply business, was born in Canada to Sicilian immigrants.
Kayla's siblings - James, Daniel, and younger sister Brianna - also joined their travelling group.
"James and his wife left behind a one-month-old to come here for five days and my other son left his three-and-a-half-month-old to come to see his sister play," Diana said.
"It's a magical experience being by my sister's side on the world stage," Daniel said.
The group organised the trip a year in advance, with most of the members staying in a hotel in northern Milan. "We had about 12–13 rooms booked there... that is our headquarters basically," Diana said.
The Tutino crowd attended the Games' opening ceremony and also cheered on Canada in their loss to the United States as well as sampling lots more of what Italy has to offer, including visiting cities like Bologna and Venice.
In the event of an Italy-Canada showdown, George summed up where the family's loyalties would lie: "Our daughter is blood… you never trade your blood."
(Reporting by Giulio PiovaccariEditing by Toby Davis)
