Derthona Basket and Centogrigio collaborate together with Gestione Cittadella. A playground is under construction in the sports center
The new partnership between Derthona Basket – together with Gestione Cittadella – and Centogrigio Sport Village in Alessandria was presented during a press conference . "Great basketball is here ," reads the banner placed at the entrance to the Alessandria sports center on the fence surrounding the construction site where the playground, the centerpiece of the collaboration, is being built. The outdoor basketball court, suitable for both 5-on-5 and 3x3, aims to engage basketball fans in Alessandria, especially the younger ones, who are the target of the project, which will also see Derthona's youth teams train at the new facility in the future. The partnership was highlighted by the presence in the Centogrigio meeting room of the three teams, Derthona Basket and BCC Derthona Basket, fresh from their important results at the National Youth 3x3 Finals, accompanied by the president of the men's youth sector, Claudio Coffano . In the audience, a sign of closeness from the respective municipal administrations, the mayor of Alessandria Giorgio Abonante and the President of the Sports Commission of the Municipality of Tortona Antonio Simoniello.
“The will is to be present daily as Derthona Basket in Alessandria, our goal as a Company is to work in the territory also uniting the various existing sports realities and we would like to try to give more and more energy and impetus in this sense starting from the spaces dedicated to young people”, the words of the CEO of Derthona Basket and Gestione Cittadella, Ferencz Bartocci. "The Cittadella dello Sport will soon be inaugurated in its entirety, so it will be able to host our Serie A matches as soon as possible, but above all it was born as a point of socialization. From this point of view, the link with Centogrigio is important because the mission of the two entities is similar, to create spaces where especially the youngest can play and have fun in safety. We have liked the idea of combining for a long time and this is the right time to start the collaboration, because with the opening of our new sports center in Tortona and with Centogrigio we can think of making this area a center of excellence not only nationally for large events of any kind. The idea of the playground – continues Bartocci – is to finally put a basket inside this splendid sports centre, the field will reflect the technical characteristics of the two already present inside the Cittadella dello Sport, thanks to the collaboration with Mapei and Sportsystem, who are the suppliers respectively of the base and the baskets, homologable for national and international competitions”.
The president of Centogrigio Sport Village, Gilbert Preda"The choice made for this five-year collaboration dates back to 2022 and I want to say that it is a choice that I would make again today, thanking Bartocci for the great availability shown. It is an ambitious project that looks to the future, we expect to complete the playground within 4-5 weeks and then evaluate the project as a whole in a year to be able to improve it further. A modification will be made to the entrance of the sports center, adding a road open to cars and with parking available for the disabled. There will be shops and offices that will be opened on the back of the covered grandstand of the playground and that will overlook it and the adjacent five-a-side football pitch”.
Speaking for Bertram Derthona's Serie A team, coach Giovanni Bassi , one of head coach Walter De Raffaele's assistants, said : " Playing on a playground puts everyone on the same page, and no one prevails, regardless of age or technical ability. The project presented strongly emphasizes unity. I'm Tuscan, and we invented the "bell tower," so seeing this unity of purpose between two teams, one from Tortona and one from Alessandria, can only be a positive sign for the province . "
