AREZZO – Thirty-two teams, five hundred athletes involved and sixty-four matches in seven sports halls in the province. The national basketball trophy “Guido Guidelli” is back with great numbers and, scheduled from Saturday 23 to Monday 25 April, renews after two years of hiatus the appointment with one of the longest-running basketball events in Italy. The tournament, organized by the Arezzo Basketball School, has in fact reached its 37th edition and will be structured as a tradition between three different categories (Under12, Under13 and Under14) in which teams from all over the north-central of the peninsula will compete: from Friuli Venezia Giulia to Lazio, passing through Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria, Emilia Romagna and Piedmont.
The sporting and touristic value of “Guido Guidelli” is testified by the patronage of the Municipalities of Arezzo, Castiglion Fiorentino, Civitella in Val di Chiana, Laterina Pergine Valdarno and the Arezzo Intour Foundation which confirmed the closeness and support for an event capable of bringing together one thousand three hundred people including children, technicians, managers and parents who will fill fifteen hotels and who will guarantee an important induced to the territory in terms of economy and visibility.
Furthermore, the main sponsor of the tournament will once again be Amen who has created an exclusive jewel for all the participants, while the novelty is represented by the organizational synergy with the CSI – Centro Sportivo Italiano. “The “Guido Guidelli” trophy – commented Mauro Castelli, president of the Sba, during the presentation press conference, – is a flagship of our club and of Italian youth basketball. For this reason, after two years of stop due to the health emergency, we strongly wanted to restart an organizational machine that requires many months of work, a lot of commitment and great sacrifices, because we believe that this event is also a heritage of the city from to protect and to grow due to the strong impact in sports and tourism terms».
The presentation press conference saw the presence not only of the President Castelli, but also of the councilor of the Municipality of Arezzo Federico Scapecchi, the councilor of the Municipality of Castiglion Fiorentino Chiara Cappelletti, the councilor of the Municipality of Civitella in Val di Chiana Claudia Del Tongo and the president of the Arezzo Committee of the CSI Lorenzo Bernardini. Thirty-two teams will be present in the three categories foreseen in the tournament, which will give life to three days full of matches which, from 13.45 on 23 April, will continue uninterruptedly until the finals scheduled between 8.30 and 12.00 on 25 April at the Estra “Mario d ‘ Agata ”with the assignment of various titles. The matches will be hosted by seven sports halls in Arezzo, Badia al Pino, Castiglion Fiorentino and Ponticino, reaffirming a widespread format in the area. The attention of the SBA will be focused on the Arezzo teams enrolled (the Under12 Nova Verta and the Under13 coached by Michele Roggi, and the Under14 of Umberto Vezzosi) who, directly on the home parquet and in front of their audience, will have the opportunity to test themselves and prove their worth in comparison with some of Italy’s strongest peers.
The heart of the three days of the “Guido Guidelli” trophy will be the gala evening on April 24 which, from 8.45pm, will bring together all the protagonists of the tournament on the parquet of the Estra “Mario d’Agata” sports hall for a real party that will end with the awarding of all the participating teams, providing for an award in the name of fair play to enhance the commitment of each team regardless of the results achieved on the field. “Once again – adds Scapecchi, councilor for sport of the Municipality of Arezzo, – the vivacity and the effort of a significant reality of the Arezzo sports associations, “give us” an event which, by virtue of the high number of participants, will have positive economic repercussions. Sport is inevitably linked to a competitive aspect, but it also contributes to making Arezzo known as an ideal destination. In addition, I add looking at the historical period we lived, today sport is really a breath of fresh air: every event that is re-proposed, after the forced stop, returns that feeling of restart that we have been waiting for for a long time. The Municipality of Arezzo also gave an economic contribution to the “Guidelli” trophy».
