Rising Stars National Insurance: Crown event for the EEC for the development of young athletes

His normal period Rising Stars National Insurance it’s just around the corner. The new season, fourth historically, of the organization that gives time and space for development to the next generation of Greek basketball was presented at a press conference at noon on Wednesday (16/10) at the offices of EEC. As it became known, foreign teams, such as Bayern Munich and Bassano, will appear in the championship as…guests.

Lambros Takis (EEC General Secretary): “It is the fourth year of Rising Stars National Insurance, which continues unabated, with some changes. This year more than 70 teams are participating and it is not by chance, because several teams and associations expressed interest in participating. This is how we had the qualifiers from which the teams that completed the twelve of the regular season also emerged. The purpose is to highlight players who may have been passed and lost. There is now the ability to find talents that do not have the ability to view. A second purpose is to create a basketball community, in a healthy image for the evolution of the sport and society. With all the stimuli that youth have, we want to attract as many children as possible. I wish all the teams the best of luck.”

Chrysoula Athanasopoulou (Director of Marketing of National Insurance): “It is our pleasure to support Rising Stars for the third consecutive year. We are a sponsor of the EEC and we could not miss this event, which is essentially the future. We want to contribute to having a positive imprint on society and promote values ​​such as mutual support, teamwork and sweating for the shirt. We support all this effort of the children who are students and athletes at the same time. We all evolve with them. I wish good success to all the children.”

Nikos Stavropoulos (Development Program Manager): “We share a love for basketball. This tournament is the crown, it has lights, it has glitter, coaches are very capable, players are very big talents and with all the staff we talked to we said that children from the province should have the opportunity to compete. It is a great honor for us that the big brand names are participating, now we wanted to involve all of Greece in the process. We did the qualifying phase and received very positive feedback about the innovation of the league. Barely a team from the region did not reach the final stage, maybe next time. There’s always the pressure of winning, but that’s not the point. The point is for children to play and enjoy it in a healthy environment. There are a lot of people, a lot of parents are watching and there has to be health and respect so that we can enjoy the game. We hope that this year will also be a competitive championship, we will see new faces, we made an innovation with a mixed team through which many children from North and South will go through. We also benefit from this process, as do the national teams. The participation of foreign teams is an honor for us, so that coaches and children have the opportunity to see different philosophies and there is an exchange of information. Every year we will have stronger teams from abroad, we are already in contact with big teams for the next season. Good start to everyone.”

Kostas Tsartsaris (Development Program Manager): “The goal of EEC and sports in general is to pass on some principles and values ​​to children. It is a very big responsibility that we have first as a federation and then every club and every coach. This tournament, which is also the crown of the EEC, aims to transmit principles and values ​​to the children. It is a development tournament, all teams are looking for victory, we try to convey to the teams that nothing happened if we lose a game, since we want to develop the children and pass our philosophy as a federation. It is the fourth year, the third with the support of the National Insurance Company, we are making progress and every year we want to involve more and more clubs in this process, so that our children can develop. Let the coaches see them at a high level so that there is a more informed picture when they reach the level of the national teams. This year we will see teams such as Bayern Munich, Bassano, a team from Cyprus, while the mixed U16 will also take part. Good luck to everyone.”

Andreas Patrikis (Player of Lavrio): “I would like to congratulate the federation for holding this championship, which helps the kids to get their feet wet and develop, but also learn to manage winning and losing. Personally, my participation helped me a lot, to see my weaknesses and to improve. This event helps children who compete in teams that do not have access to the Panhellenic championship to show their talent. I wish good success to all the children.”