Serbia wins the 1st International Baskin Tournament in Tortona. The story of the four days of basketball and inclusion
On the field, Serbia won the international tournament EuroHoop 4 All 2.0 beating Italy in the final by 99-82, but the success was of all eleven teams that arrived from as many European nations to show all the beauty of baskin. For four days Tortona, thanks to the organization of Derthona Basket and the Baskin Association, was the home of the "most inclusive sport in the world", which allows able-bodied and disabled people to play together with the same level of competitiveness in this particular form of basketball, giving the athletes and the large audience present days of sport in its purest essence.
THE TOURNAMENT In the two qualifying rounds of the “Veterans” category that saw six teams competing at the PalaCamagna to reach the Final Four, Serbia and Italy earned their ticket to the title by finishing in first place in their respective groups. For the Serbians, a double victory over France (100-73) and Germany (72-26), for the Italians, successes over Greece (90-64) and the mixed Belgium-Luxembourg (78-59), with France and Belux reaching the final for third place – won by the Belgian-Luxembourgers by 77-48 – thanks to the second place obtained with their respective victories over Germany (63-42) and Greece (69-67). For the final day, the party-event moved to the field of the facility of the Cittadella dello Sport “Marcellino e Pietro Gavio”, where in the morning the finals of the “New Bies” category were also played with the participation of mixed teams made up of Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, Maltese and Spanish players, to designate the team that went to challenge Piace Baskin of the former Italian basketball national Matteo Soragna, great testimonial of baskin and the Tortona tournament, in an exhibition match. Which involved the entire Piedmontese city, with collateral events including conferences and concerts that always had the theme of inclusion at the center. At the end of the tournament, the talk-lounge set up in the center of the field of the Cittadella dello Sport immediately after the Serbia-Italy final, with the mayor of Tortona as protagonists Federico Chiodi, the president of the Baskin Association and inventor of baskin Antonio Bodini, the Project Coordinator of EuroHoop and one of the souls of the organization Marco Cardinaletti, the CEO of Derthona Basket Ferencz Bartocci, Luca Massaccesi e Anna Pettene of the National Observatory on Bullying and Youth Discomfort, the aforementioned Matthew Soragna and two other special guests such as the general manager of the Greek national basketball team and a great former player Nikos Zisis and, surprisingly, Elio by Elio and the Tese Stories.
STATEMENTS
Federico Chiodi: “We are truly honored to have been able to host this international event in Tortona, a splendid effort by Derthona Basket but also by the entire Tortona community. We appreciated a sport that goes beyond inclusion and integration, making us understand what the founding values of sport in general are, not only the challenge against the opponent but also against ourselves. Overcoming our physical, mental, cultural limits is the most beautiful gift that sport can give us”.
Ferencz Bartocci: “Congratulations to Serbia for winning the tournament and to Italy for reaching the final. But congratulations go to all the athletes who participated, they were intense days for our city, for our facilities, and living them with the colors of the teams from so many different countries, with their enthusiasm, filled us with joy”.
Elio: "Baskin is a sport that has been really well thought out, it gives everyone the chance to be protagonists, which would then be something that should also be applied to the lives of all of us. Then I am enthusiastic that this sport was invented in Italy and then spread abroad, it doesn't happen very often for us Italians to spread something positive abroad... For all this, a big round of applause to its inventor Bodini".
Matthew Soragna: “I often say that baskin is so beautiful that it makes me feel selfish, because playing baskin makes me feel good. The fact that I practice it to get something back simply because I am happy to be in contact with others is a kind of positive selfishness, a selfishness of sharing”.
Nikos Zisis: “I saw a baskin game for the first time and it was a wonderful experience and I thank my great friend Teo Soragna for inviting me. I saw disabled people playing without disabilities, with an admirable desire to participate and try to win the games. Baskin is not so popular in Greece, but now I will try to do my best to make it so. These athletes are the real heroes, the real example”.
Antonio Bodini: “It often turns out that being with people who have had a more difficult history, you feel good. This must be made possible in work and in all other areas of life. I tried to do it in sports with baskin”.
