The Special Olympics European Basketball Week 2024 will be launched in the best possible way on the pitch with Olimpia Milano and the Ambassadors of the world of basketball
Milan, 21 November 2024 – It was presented today at the Unipol Forum in Assago in collaboration with EA/ Olimpia Milano, the Special Olympics European Basketball Week 2024an intense week of basketball events which, once again, brings to the pitch the power of inclusion and the message of sport for all.
Reached his XXI editionthe event will see the involvement of over 25.000 participants in 35 European countries and, in Italy, it will involve thousands of athletes and students from schools of all levels across the entire national territory.
The following spoke at the press conference:
Michele SamadenYouth Development Program & CSR AJ OLIMPIA MILANO:
“It is a great pleasure to open this press conference on behalf of Olimpia Milano. We will spend a wonderful day together dedicated to unified sport. We are proud to stand alongside Special Olympics, together we have taken a step forward towards equality and inclusiveness“,
Alberto FiasconaroMarketing and Communication Director of CISALFA SPORT:
“We have always believed in sport to promote physical and mental well-being. Sport helps to understand fundamental values: respect, sense of responsibility, spirit of collaboration. All values that we have rediscovered with Special Olympics. Our partnership has lasted for more than a year and we have organized several events. Through physical activity we can promote inclusiveness and civil coexistence. It is a pleasure and an honor for us to be at your side: today’s quadrangular kicks off what basketball and unified sport represents: we will take to the field together, involving our employees, demonstrating how much sport and passion can truly unite people, beyond all differences. I would therefore like to thank everyone who will participate in this event, and Special Olympics for its daily commitment to equality“.
Luca BiganzoliMember of the LNP Board of Directors:
“The National Basketball League has always been together with Special Olympics for Basketball Week: it is an event of extraordinary importance, it is good for everyone. Sport can really combat exclusion and marginality, it can enhance people. At the end of the month, together with Special Olympics, we will promote a series of initiatives. Our goal is to make a concrete contribution, which goes beyond Basketball Week: we want to make spaces and events available for Special Olympics, starting from the Italian Cup Final Four“.
Giacomo Galanda: “”I have so much fun when I play unified with the Special Olympics Athletes! I feel like a Special athlete together with many other Special athletes, when we are on the field together we are really all at the same level and it is an experience, that of unified sport, that I recommend everyone to try. I wish all the young people who are about to participate in the European Basketball Week to play well, win and, above all, have fun.”
Bruno Cerella: “I am proud and grateful to have been chosen to captain one of the two Special Olympics teams on the field today. I want to participate in these events because I believe it is a great opportunity first of all for us, but also for these athletes who do not always have the opportunity to have a space to play sport, to make friends and experience healthy environments where values can be promoted. and grow together.”
Luca GrassoSpecial Olympics Italia Athlete: “My name is Luca Andrea Grasso, I am 35 years old, I live in Limbiate in the province of Monza and Brianza, I have hemiparesis on the left side of the body and an intellectual disability and yet none of this prohibits me from practicing the sport I love: basketball. Rather, the problem here is another: I’m only 164 cm tall! I can tell you that with willpower alone and a good dose of determination you can achieve unexpected results. Even this involvement of mine here today, representing in some way all the Special Olympics athletes (even the very tall ones) was unimaginable to me until some time ago. Since I discovered Special Olympics and became part of my team, strange things have actually happened to me and the thing that makes me happiest of all is my growth as a man and athlete and it also makes me happy to have all the people close to me. who I met in this beautiful world and with whom I formed wonderful friendships. Perhaps true strength is not in just one person, but lies in teamwork“.
Gioele Parma, Special Olympics Italia Partner Athlete: “I have been an Athlete Partner since 2012. The first thing that comes to mind about these years is not the victories or points scored, but the emotions, the friendships, the team spirit, absolutely unique sensations that I have only been able to experience here with Special Olympics . Everyone has unique qualities, but it is thanks to teamwork that everyone is able to exalt themselves and discover themselves”.
From testimonies to facts. Immediately after the presentation press conference, the Unipol Forum hosted a unified basketball quadrangularin which Atleti Special Olympics and partner athletes have given life to passionate matches with one delegation of stars from the world of basketball come Bruno Cerella, Giacomo Galanda, Alma Pellegrini, Thomas Marino e Lorenzo Pinciroli of the DaMove.
“Although I have performed dozens of times with Da Move on this pitch, playing as captain of such a special team at the Unipol Forum is a dream come true for me, an indescribable emotion. But what makes this experience even more special is sharing it with male and female athletes to whom we must help live and give much bigger dreams. This day of sport and joy is a small step towards a vision of sport and life of inclusion and respect that as Court MLN we promulgate and that together with projects such as Special Olympics, we dream of realizing.” Lorenzo Pinciroli of DaMove.
The Special Olympics European Basketball Week, in program from November 25th to December 3rd is supported by FIBA Europe e FIBA Foundation and, in Italy, enjoys patronage
from the Italian Basketball FederationOf Lega Basket Afrom the National League
Basketball and of Women’s Basketball League.
The protagonists of unified basketball will be young athletes with and without intellectual disabilities coming from all over Italy. they will take the field, side by side in mixed formations.
Tournaments, demonstration matches and introductory courses to basketball and all the planned initiatives represent more than a symbol, they embody the values of inclusion and sharing, offering an opportunity for personal growth both for the Special Olympics athletes and partners and for the players professionals, who, over the years, have learned from this experience a precious lesson in team spirit, determination and respect for others.
Numerous Serie A and LNP teams will participate with demonstration matches and meeting moments, to spread the message of inclusion to an increasingly wider audience of fans and supporters.
The effect of inclusion on Instagram
This year the European Basketball Week will also be played online. In fact, thanks to the new Instagram campaign, through the “Play Unified” effect in stories, anyone will be able to appear with a white Special Olympics cap and a basketball in hand, while the “Play Unified Frame” will allow you to express team support .
All basketball fans and supporters of inclusion can join the celebration with the hashtags #fettoSpecial and #EBW2024, helping to spread the message in a fun and interactive way.
We therefore invite everyone to join the campaign, sharing stories and posts on their social profiles, amplifying the wave of inclusion that only sport can create.
