Tsartsaris: “There are talents, the tank has grown”

The belief that the talent talent in Greek basketball has grown and that there are players with great prospects was expressed by Costas Tsartsaris. The EEC development program manager referred to the new actions of the Federation on this piece. In detail he spoke:

For the new actions of the EEC Development Program for 2025-26: “It is an information to everyone, all the clubs, coaches, agents, parents, children, to know the coming from the EEC. We all know the Rising Stars and girls, we have the mixed compounds in their 2nd season and will continue to “run” with great success. A little changed, of course, this program, however, the denominator is the same, to give children 14-15 years old from all over the country to go on stage, to show their talent and to be able to be able to distinguish themselves and to distinguish themselves. So there, among the rising stars of boys, there is a gap in the age of the U16, so we have created a tournament that we have called “Gen a Stars U16″, pilot. As we started with Rising Stars, so we go with serious robust steps at an age that is already loaded with the championships of their associations, which the national team has various actions and in a season that is more … short this year, as Easter comes early. We have to collapse too many events in these few weekends. Let’s go to something relatively faster. And the President, Vangelis Liolios, and we in the development are very anxious and we put things in, but we have to hear the associations and unions about their problems. Time and spatial is a general problem, so we have to take into account. We want to fill the gap at this age, to give a high -level tournament at this age and to motivate all the country’s unions. ”

On how the Gen A Stars Tournament: “We are creating a qualifying phase of Panhellenic, with 88 unions in the whole, which will be selected on the basis of the ranking that ended the previous season in their associations. The first four of each union, except ESKA-EKAS-EKASTH, where the first 8 will participate. This is because they are the largest associations in the country. There are 9 groups that will participate in the normal duration. The three are from ranking, the dec, Prometheus and Olympiacos. From the remaining 88 there will be 6 seats, three from the North and three from the south. After going through the four phases of the qualifying, the 9 teams will play four days, three teams per match. So each team will have two games to play in this three -day race. Then we will reach a Final-4, which will be the crown of the team’s effort and move on. We want to suggest to the groups of these unions to participate. It will be an awesome experience for everyone. Whether they are able to find themselves in the regular season or not. The matches they will play and the experiences they get are very important. ”

For the profit of children through this tournament: “Through this tournament we try to take a step to children, especially in the province. We have seen a very intense mobility in the transcriptional track. Many children leave their club and go to another because they think they will have a better future there, named. Without excluding this, there are many cases where children would be better to stay in their associations, take part of their time, opportunities, and develop their personality through their unions. Thus, this tournament is an incentive for children to stay in their associations, because through this tournament they can claim the best. Because they think that their competition is missing, this tournament will give high competition. Even if they think they are not seen by the coaches of the federation, even though they are watching them anyway, it is still a way to see them at a high level. The character of this tournament is dual. We think it will have the appeal of Rising Stars. It will fill the gap at these ages, so we will create a structure from young age. We can give them a high -end games from an early age to get experiences for the highest level. ”

As to whether Rising Stars is a compass for Gen a stars: “Rising stars is the compass for Gen A. It has grown very much. We have gained valuable experience. We believe that, in addition to having many unions in this tournament and many unions are involved, the mixed ones we put in are very important. In Mixed Greece we saw many children, the mixed U16 that participated in two appointments gained valuable experiences, the foreign teams gave something more. It is a product that enjoys acceptance from all over Greece, from all unions. ”

About what he likes from Rising Stars all these years: “Good or bad, the Rising Stars is more appreciated than the nation. If we get the molecules out of the nation, I think Rising Stars is more interesting for children. This should not happen, however, because Panhellenic is an excellent event, very important and we must separate them. What I like is how much the teams embrace it, how much they want to play. They play very competitive matches, travel everywhere. Foreign groups are also coming, which are usually very competitive and with good programs. I like mixed groups. I like that we give a step to children from the province, in unions that may not often participate and children can show us talent, as well as gain experiences to do better. Also, the addition of the mixed U16 is very important. They may lose, but they see the highest level, they may see what they will meet in the summer at Eurobasket. That is why we work hard on the psychological part so that they do not affect the differences they lose. All this has a truly developmental benefit as a tournament. ”

For the Final-8 of the Union Tournament last season: “This year’s Final-8 was a great success. We did it on the stadiums of the Olympic Village with boys and girls. Many children, awesome talent, many parents, many basketball people watched it. It had very competitive games. We expected it to be something very nice, but it was more than what we expected. ”

For changes to the compound tournament from the new season: “Until now every Union has traveled a Saturday and one Sunday to another Union or hosted a union if it could, playing a match and this was done for 5 games. Then we got out of the north and south 8 teams to play the Final-8. Now we make a four -day, north and south, where all the compounds are hosted. We will make a big event in which parents can come to see their children. ”

How to choose children in the Associations Tournament: “It starts with the EEC regional coaches, who work either exclusively or in cooperation with the Federation. They make a first wider choice, with specific criteria. They look at each child’s racing performance, characteristics, athletic ethos, which plays a very important role. Also, the personality, which is a little harder to see and generally things that are not so distinct, but if we look at them positively. There is a wide choice, the developmental steps are made to make a second check, which is not just one night though. Then we go to tighter calls and the teams are created. This program has a great success. Suddenly every club feels that it has … existence and knows that the federation sees it. ”

Whether young children are followed by behind: “I can say for sure that there are talents. The younger the ages, the more you see. What is happening along the way is social phenomena first of all. Technology is dominant anymore, social media, they will not go out on their own, they only wait for training time. We have to embrace these kids, see how we can “marry” them. Parents, managers influence children. It’s been chatting with them, it’s good and I think we’ve found them well. The tank, however, has grown. Many things happened to happen. We put the extra matches with tournaments, the choices of the children through meritocratic criteria, we put a lot of things in the notices. The serious work is done in the cell, which is the club. There must be a lot of weight, to see how we can approach the factors, to see what factors can help, to properly inspire the coaches to work properly with the children. What we do for 1-2 weeks in our scale is as a point. The child will basically keep what he does daily. So we want to get into the unions, to show them the right thing, to follow the same way to join together. ”

For the whole situation with US colleges and young children going there: “It’s a new reality. There was a lot of money in children who did not believe that they could also put money on their bank account at the same time. Parents also equate the equation. If they were told that the child would go to college, get his degree and get a million, it is understood that they would say “yes”. I don’t know if they do it right or not, that will be seen. The Federation cannot do too much in this piece, a tsunami has come from the opposite bank. As far as I learn, there is an attempt by FIBA ​​to shield it somewhat in some way. I don’t know where this will end up, but I know this thought is. What we want from these kids is whatever the choice they make for their good basketball and to evolve. “