Much more than an elite club. The structure of Casademont Zaragoza not only encompasses its teams from the ACB and the Endesa Women’s League, but also extends throughout the Aragonese territory through numerous projects and activities -cultural, social and educational- that it develops every year through its Foundation. An exemplary performance, of incalculable value, with the common denominator of its commitment to the Community and that is always carried out, in addition, under unbreakable premises: the dissemination and promotion of sport among the youngest, education in values and, also , training in healthy life habits; a task that is applied in the three Aragonese provinces and that monopolizes a very significant part of the economic and human resources of the entity.
The quarry: “Training linked to the values of sport”
It is the best-known branch of the Basket Zaragoza Foundation. Apart from the two subsidiary teams – Anagan Olivar (EBA League) and Anagan Stadium Casablanca (Women’s League 2) -, in the quarry up to a total of 120 young athletes who embody Aragonese talent coexist. The so-called Generation Z -Carlos Alocén, Vit Krejci, Javi García …- has been the best business card of this effective performance of the club in its lower categories.
“Our future is founded on Aragonese boys and girls, and for them we work. Its formative growth is linked to the values of sport. That is essential, inalienable for us, because basketball ends up being a way of life and not just sports “, he says. Reynaldo Benito, president of Casademont and the Basket Zaragoza Foundation.
Women’s basketball: a decisive boost
After an extensive previous tour both in the schools and in the different campuses organized by the club, the Basket Zaragoza Foundation took another step forward with the creation, in the 2019-20 season, of women’s categories in its quarry structure. Two children’s teams began the federated journey, to gradually grow in number until they are currently equating themselves with the male network (from pre-infant to juniors).
In addition, the club reacted quickly and decisively in the summer of 2020, when elite women’s basketball in Zaragoza was at risk of disappearance. Was born then the Casademont Zaragoza of the Endesa Women’s League, to which a second team in Women’s League 2 linked to Stadium Casablanca was also added. “The presence of women in sport in full equality could not go unnoticed for a club like Basket Zaragoza”, explains Fernando Ramiro, patron of the Foundation. “Our approach is based on working in parallel, but in an identical way, in both categories; we do not understand it differently and we are doing it that way”, adds the counselor.
Presence throughout Aragon: More than 1,000 young athletes
The Foundation’s range of action covers the entire Aragonese territory, with a work of dizzying expansion. Among other aspects, and apart from the competitions, the entity collaborates closely with school directors and with parents’ associations, managing the extracurricular activity of basketball, in addition to having established different initiation schools in neighborhoods of Zaragoza. An activity that brings together around 1,000 boys and girls -most of them kindergarten and primary-, and which will reach 27 schools and colleges in the 2021-22 season.
The projection of the Foundation does not stop in Zaragoza; Its scope of action will include other towns in the province such as María de Huerva, Alagón, Tauste, La Almunia de Doña Godina or Zuera, where the club has schools that either directly manage, or do so in collaboration with entities local sports.
Campus in Albarracín and preseason in Benasque
This year, in a novel initiative, the Foundation will carry out a Summer Campus in the Teruel town of Albarracín, where more than 400 boys and girls go to enjoy the magic of basketball “in a unique natural environment in Aragon” to also fulfill “a province where there is also a lot of basketball tradition,” explains Ramiro. More than 1,500 young people benefit annually from the different High Performance Campuses, Clinics and Conferences organized by the Basket Zaragoza Foundation.
Likewise, the first two teams of Casademont Zaragoza –that of the ACB and that of the Endesa Women’s League- will carry out the preseason in Benasque (Huesca). “Aragon is a place where basketball is deeply rooted,” says Ramiro, who underlines the club’s purpose of “being present in the three provinces, in one way or another”, because Casademont Zaragoza “understands” that sport ” it is an instrument of social cohesion “and, therefore,” it can help to structure territories and bring fans closer to a common feeling “.
International tournaments: An economic impact of more than 2.5 million
The Basket Zaragoza Foundation also has planned the organization of international tournaments at Easter and in June 2022, which are scheduled to participation of about 3,600 athletes, which translates into more than 8,000 companions and more than 35,000 overnight stays in hotels in Aragon. Expectations, in fact, indicate an economic impact of more than 2.5 million euros, mainly in the hospitality sector. “An average of 50 people work at the Foundation, reaching up to one hundred at the peak of the sports season”, warns Ramiro, who highlights that most of them “are young people to whom the Foundation provides their first work experience”. “Our intention is to actively collaborate with the creation of employment and wealth in our Community,” he adds.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Sport, “a vehicle for training and enjoyment”
The Foundation also has a multitude of solidarity projects. One of its best windows is the collaboration with Special Olympics Aragón or the Basketball School with Atades, which next season will celebrate its fourth edition and which, in previous promotions, has had players of the prestige of Gary Neal, Fran Vázquez and Dylan Ennis as godparents.
In parallel, the Foundation has been developing the project ‘3 feet‘, where “the free practice of basketball is facilitated for boys and girls in situations of social vulnerability”, with the intention of making sport “a training and enjoyment vehicle” for the most disadvantaged groups, explains Ramiro. The ‘3pies’ project It is currently being developed in two Zaragoza schools, with 60 students, and it is planned to extend it to the Aragonese schools that request it.
Likewise, the recent reform of an area of the Children’s Hospital of Zaragoza It is the most recent action carried out by the Foundation. In this sense, a space dedicated to basketball was decorated where the consultations for pediatric palliative care, child and adolescent mental health, neurophysiology, neuropediatrics and oncopediatrics are located, as well as PAC pediatric and maternity emergencies. “It is a contribution from our club and its subscribers in which the protagonists are the children. Perhaps it is only a grain of sand, but any initiative that serves to get a look of joy or a smile in this place, already meets our expectations. “Ramiro explains.
Rehabilitation of pastures in Zaragoza and a school in Mali
Among its next projects, the Foundation aspires to rehabilitate and revitalize various paddocks of basketball in Zaragoza, – “to bring basketball to as many places in the urban area as possible,” the club specifies, as well as the creation of a basketball school in Mali, where they will send donations of sports equipment. In addition, with the help of Grupo Costa and its Casademont brand, the Foundation hopes to develop a nutritional education program in schools throughout Aragon.
For this, it has the support of Ibercaja as the main sponsor., apart from the support of a large group of companies that actively collaborate in their projects. “Last year we received direct donations from our fans and private citizens, as part of the compensation campaign for the matches they were unable to witness, which has been a decisive boost for the activation of various projects,” Reynaldo Benito thanks.
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