NEWS

The Ülker Little Ones Basketball Festival, organized for the 10th time this year, will bring young basketball players from the four corners of the country together in Samsun. At the festival, where it is stressed that there is no winning or losing, the kids will play a lot of basketball and enjoy the spirit of camaraderie through joyful competition for 5 days. The young participants will also tour historical areas and find opportunities to mingle and have fun during activities like talent shows and picnics. The nearly 1,000 students that participate will be given medals and certificates of participation after the festival.

Yıldız Holding Sport Sponsorships Director Mehmet Uçan emphasized that place a lot of importance on taking a place in projects that provide children with opportunities to do sports and achieve multifaceted development, the productive utilization of the potential in our country and the expansion of the talent pool. Mehmet Uçan, who pointed out that as a brand that has always been inside sports for many years they have attached importance to supporting projects addressing children in cooperation with football and basketball clubs and that their purpose is to make sports a part of their lives to contribute to the creation of healthier future generations.

10,000 kids in 10 years…

Uçan continued by saying: “This festival that is organized by the Turkish Basketball Federation and supported by us is a very important activity in terms of giving children the habit of doing sports, being part of a team in the capacity of sports, sharing and learning how to be respectful to everyone in the game. The kids also gain the opportunity to see a new city, tour historical sites and collect knowledge. This festival, organized for the 10th time this year, has been participated in by 10,000 kids.”

The Turkish Basketball Federation National Activities Authority Emre Türegün said, “In contrast to all of our other activities, this event is not about winning and losing as much as it is about introducing basketball to our little athletes and enabling them to experience 5 full days of activities outside of basketball as well. Maybe thanks to this organization many of our little athletes are leaving the province that they live in for the first time, receiving the opportunity to make new friends from other cities. Also, they are provided with the opportunity to participate in cities tours organized in parallel with the festivities, where they can learn information and accumulate experience about the host city. This year’s host city Samsun is very significant in this respect.”

Türegün continued to say: “Throughout our festival a total of 1,000 players, 100 trainers and nearly 50 referees will play an active role in the organization. For 5 days at 5 different sports facilities, 48 boys' and 16 girls' teams for a total of 64 teams from various provinces will play 224 games. After the games all of the players will be presented with achievement certificates and medals and free gifts will be distributed by our sponsor Ülker. Also within the scope of the festival will be a talent show to be participated in by one player from each team and a picnic.”

Türegün concluded by saying that on the last day of the festival, Sunday July 1st, the young players would finish up their games and head back to their home towns with the wonderful memories and friendships they had gained in Samsun.