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Se l'allenatore fosse più atletico, avrebbe partecipato al torneo.

Se l'allenatore fosse più atletico, avrebbe partecipato al torneo.
If the coach were more athletic, he would have participated in the tournament.
From Lesson 322:Mixed conditionals: present condition, past result·Italian

Questions & Answers about Se l'allenatore fosse più atletico, avrebbe partecipato al torneo.

Why does this sentence mix the imperfect subjunctive (fosse) with the past conditional (avrebbe partecipato)?
This is a mixed conditional. The condition describes a general, ongoing state (the coach is not very athletic right now), so we use the imperfect subjunctive fosse. The result, however, is a missed opportunity in the past (he didn't participate in a tournament that already happened), so we use the past conditional avrebbe partecipato.
Why do we use avrebbe (from avere) instead of sarebbe (from essere) for partecipato?
While English speakers might associate participating with going to an event, the verb partecipare always takes the auxiliary avere in compound tenses. A helpful trick is to think of it as 'to have a part in' something.
The English translation says 'in the tournament,' so why does the Italian sentence use al instead of nel?
The verb partecipare is always followed by the preposition a in Italian, never in. When you combine a with the masculine singular article il (for torneo), it forms the combined preposition al.

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