Itea: The place that was not defeated by fire and continues to produce “oxygen”

Many times we are led astray by the impression that sport lives and reigns only in large urban centers, something that is clearly not true. In no case, in fact, since the vitality that the provincial areas give to sports is more than important.

The present story concerns an area which may not be known to the general public, but is a beloved place in the world of sports. We are talking about the wonderful Itea of ​​Phocis, the place that borders the Milky Way of the flour smear and that two weeks ago was in danger of losing its aura and its vitality entirely due to the fires.

But Itea survived and proved for another year that sport reigns everywhere. On Saturday 23/07, two sporting events were held at the same time, which honored with their presence great figures of Greek sports.

Specifically, on one side of the city, at the Iteas municipal swimming pool, which one finds among large pine trees, the Pythia Cup took place. For those who don’t know, this particular tournament is an organization of official friendlies of worldwide scope. Countries from all over the world try to find a place on the calendar and sometimes big names are left out.

This year the National Junior Polo Team took second place, while they were joined by the world superpower of the USA, the Netherlands who had on their roster one of the best young players on the planet, Lola Mulhausen, while also taking part their traditional powers Hungary and Australia. The games were of course watched by the Federal Coach Alexia Kammenou, but also by many important athletes who compete at the highest level.

At the same time as this historic tournament, which has been honored by the presence of many generations of athletes, a few meters below, a 4X4 football tournament, the ASTERAS SUMMER CUP, was being held by the Asteras Iteas team.

Of course in this tournament there were also guests…surprise. Some of them were… the huge Christof Vazeha and also George Amanatidis. Of course, there were not only these guests but also younger children of sports, such as Marios Vichos who plays in Levadeiakos and next year will be in Super League 1, but also Haris Iliadis who plays in Larissa and was also its captain, last season.

Among others, the coach Paris Andralas, the veteran goalkeeper of Olympiakos Giorgos Myrtsos and Andreas Arkoumanis attended the stadium either to compete or to award the participants. The presentation was also made by Nikola Rapti.

However, they are not the only ones, since another top level athlete, but from a different sport, was there to present an award at the end of the tournament. We are talking about Giorgos Kalaitzis, the captain of the men’s team of Panioni who last year climbed to the 3rd place and secured the ticket for the Champions League qualifiers.

The leader of the Historian is a child of Itea, there he was born, there he learned to swim and there he first caught a polo ball in his hands. In the context of both events, we spoke with him and he shared his impressions of what all this means for sports and for his country.

The statements of Giorgos Kalaitzis:

“The city of Itea lives and breathes for sports. This can be seen from the athletes who produce the city’s clubs and supply the national teams as well as clubs of the first national category in many sports such as football, basketball and water polo. Despite the adversities that exist in the province and in amateur sports in general, the city is thirsty for sports, organizing sporting events and hosting major and international tournaments.

For example, every summer, G.S. Iteas organizes a high-level 3 on 3 tournament with athletes from all categories, Asteras Iteas organizes a 5X5 tournament with big football stars as guests and finally, the Itea pool hosts an international water polo tournament, the Pythia Cup, which is organized by the Navy Itea group and the Hellenic Swimming Federation, hosting countries from all over the world.

It is very important for the city of Itea to organize such large sports events, both for the promotion of the city, but also for the performances that the young athletes get, giving them supplies for the continuation of their sports career. I feel proud of my city, which, although small, does not stop producing athletes of a high level and with morals, who star in the biggest categories of the country as well as in the national teams”.

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