Euroleague Basketball teams with junior tourney
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Euroleague Basketball today announced an agreement to support the City of L'Hospitalet Junior Tournament, one of the most distinguished events of its kind in Europe. The decision was announced along with tournament details on Wednesday at a press conference in L'Hospitalet, a suburb of Barcelona. This season's L'Hospitalet Junior Tournament will be held from January 3 to 5, 2008, and will feature teams representing five Euroleague and three ULEB Cup clubs. This will mark the tournament's 29th annual edition. All players participating in this year's tournament were born in 1990 or later. The decision to help sponsor the L'Hospitalet Junior Tournament is part of an effort by Euroleague Basketball to create a qualifying process that ends with the annual Nike International Junior Tournament, which will enjoy its sixth edition at next spring's 2008 Final Four in Madrid. The winner and runner-up teams who play in the L'Hospitalet will receive invitations to the Nike International Junior Tournament. Plans are also being discussed for another junior tournament in Europe to also qualify invitees for the Nike International Junior Tournament.
Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu said: "We are proud to be able to support one of the most emblematic under-18 tournaments in Europe. We believe that supporting the youth categories should be a basic pilar of both the sporting and institutional growth of our clubs, and for that reason we wish to keep reenforcing this type of initiative."
Celestino Corbacho, Mayor of L'Hospitalet, said: "We are satisfied that with each passing year, the tournament we celebrate here in L'Hospitalet is becoming a reference in the world of basketball. This is our 29th year, and each year the tournament gets better. I want to thank those of you who organize and support this event as it becomes increasingly better run and better recognized across Europe."
Xavier González, the Club Bàsquet L'Hospitalet president, said: "Helped by city hall and other government institutions tha have always been involved, a tournament that became clearly regarded as the junior championship of Spain is now improving to become among the best across Europe. Now, we are thankful to have a new three-year deal with Euroleague Basketball and Sogecable, which will broadcast the games. There is no precedent in European junior basketball for such contracts and we hope to prove to our new partners that they have done the right thing."
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Euroleague.net
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