Santander will host the 5th International Veterans Basketball Tournament from June 3 to 5, which will bring together more than 600 participants in the competitions that will take place at the Palacio de los Deportes and in the pavilions of the University of Cantabria and the San Agustín school .
This was announced today by the mayor, Gema Igual, during the presentation of the sporting event, in which she was accompanied by the Councilor for Sports, Felipe Pérez Manso; the general director of Sports of the Cantabrian Government, Mario Iglesias; the vice-rector of the University of Cantabria, Mario Mañana; the person in charge of Sports at the San Agustín school, Julio Zaballa; and the organizer Alberto Díaz, from the Elemental SMBT Sports Club.
The councilor has emphasized the important level of participation that mobilizes the event, since there are 54 teams that will play more than 100 games over three days, in a competition that has already established itself at European level as one of the most outstanding tournaments in the circuit.
Of an amateur and international nature, it will include the participation of groups from various European countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Croatia, Luxembourg and Denmark, while Cantabria will be represented with two teams per category, and there will also be presence of the different Spanish autonomous communities.
The participating teams are organized into two categories, male and female, each of which is divided into groups by age groups (over 40 and over 50), and play a minimum of four games regardless of their final classification.
In addition to the competitors, about 100 volunteers also participate and the Cantabrian Basketball Federation provides the collegiate referees who complete the foreign judges, who are half.
The mayor also wanted to point out that it is a charity and non-profit tournament, since both the proceeds from the matches and the charity dinner held on Saturday night will go to the Lovaas Foundation, an organization that supports and help children with autism.
“We are talking about an international event that combines sport, tourism and solidarity, three key aspects of our society, so we are delighted to be able to collaborate on this initiative,” Gema Igual remarked.
For his part, Felipe Pérez Manso, has highlighted that “one of the fundamental aspects in which the Department of Sports works is to attract sporting events that generate economy in the city and this tournament is a clear example of this.”
Finally, the organizer Alberto Díaz has quantified that the economic impact that is expected to be achieved the weekend of June 3 to 5 in Santander “is around 350,000 euros, taking into account that, in addition to the 600 participants, they will meet in the city the more than 100 volunteers of the organization and the relatives and friends of the players”.
