NEWS

At the festival, which was also attended by club teams such as Fenerbahçe Ülker, Tofaş, Trabzonspor and Türk Telekom, 224 matches were played and nearly 100 trainers and 50 referees took part.

The Ülker Little Ones Basketball Festival, organized for the tenth time this year, brought together young players from the four corners of the country in Samsun. From Tekirdağ to Diyarbakır, nearly 1,000 young basketball players - who traveled a total of 20,000 km from 40 provinces in Türkiye - came to Samsun for the opportunity to play basketball for 5 days. In the festival - where it was emphasized that there was no winning or losing - a total of 64 teams with 48 boys and 16 girls took to the courts. In their free time outside of matches the little ones toured historical sites such as the monument of where the War of Liberation was started by our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Bandırma Ship, visited the zoo and took lots of pictures to remember it all. The nearly 1,000 students, who also found the opportunity to mingle and have a good time during the talent competitions and picnic, were presented with awards and certificates at the end of the festival.

Yıldız Holding Corporate Communications Director Mehmet Uçan pointed out that with the Basketball Festival organized by the Turkish Basketball Federation and supported by Ülker they had reached nearly 10,000 to date. He added “We believe the children that we refer to as ‘tiny basketball players’ here will definitely, in the future, become athletes or individuals that enjoy sports and reflect the values embedded in sports in their lives. The children have spent five days filled with happy moments in Samsun this year, where they made new friends, and we are sure that they are leaving with very good memories. We would like to especially thank the authorities in Samsun for hosting the festival and showing such warm hospitality.”

Turkish Basketball Federation National Activities Authority Emre Türegün said, “Throughout our festival 1,000 athletes played for 5 days in 5 different courts. At the end of the matches all participants were given certificates of achievement and championship medals in addition to various gifts that were presented with the support of our sponsor Ülker. The tiny athletes gained competition experience, made friends with children from other provinces and departed for their own cities with many good memories.”