By Stefan Acevski / info@eurohoops.net
Representatives from the EuroLeague and the BKT EuroCup clubs are in Barcelona this Tuesday and Wednesday for the 16th One Team Annual Workshop.
Sixteen editions in, it’s still the clearest sign of what holds the two competitions together as one family, and this week is no exception.
The two days are built around a simple idea: get everyone in the same room to compare notes on what’s working, talk through the challenges clubs are facing, and leave with fresh thinking for the season ahead. Clubs hear from people who’ve built these programs themselves, as well as from speakers with no basketball background at all, each bringing something different to the table. Sessions are designed to be hands-on throughout, with plenty of room to listen, ask questions, network and pick up ideas that clubs can put into practice straight away.
This year’s host is Lucy Mills, Founder and Chief Catalyst at READY Sport Global.
A number of sessions take place right on the court, giving clubs a chance to run through activities they can bring straight back to their own One Team groups this season. Newer clubs get their first look at the One Team approach from Marcel Maneja, Sustainability Senior Manager at Euroleague Basketball, while Samo Gabersek and Matic Lisac walk the room through how Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana built its program from the ground up. Staff from Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse and Valencia Basket add their own real-world examples.
On Wednesday, the conversation turns to what keeps a program running long after the Workshop ends. Julia Cervera, Commercial Activations Manager at Euroleague Basketball, covers building stronger partnerships; Paula Dellaroza, Head of Strategic Funding at Educo, covers funding; and Sabrina Bonini, sports journalist and content creator, covers telling a club’s story well. Clubs including Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv, Fenerbahce Tarfin Istanbul and Zalgiris Kaunas will also walk through what’s worked for them.
Two moments stand out on the personal side. Suzan Beers, Founder and President of Equipo Sin Barreras, speaks about her own journey and her work connecting people with and without disabilities through sport. And joining remotely, former One Team Ambassador Gigi Datome looks back on his years in the role, having represented the program in Turkiye with Fenerbahce and in Italy with Armani Olimpia Milan.
The Workshop closes, as it always does, with the One Team Annual Awards: the Gold, Silver and Bronze programs of the season, plus the Ambassador who made the biggest difference to the participants in their club’s program.
With an innovative model of interconnectedness across an entire continent, Euroleague Basketball and its clubs have developed in One Team a complete CSR program that brings together activities from each club in an integrated, impactful way, working under a theme of “community integration” that actively addresses targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 on Reduced Inequalities.
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