Sunday 11 December at the PalaGarassini in Loano will be held onMemorial Maestro Elio Garassinibasketball. The event is organized by the Asd Basket Loano Garassini with the patronage of the councilorship for tourism, culture and sport of the Municipality of Loano and will see the formations of the youth categories of mini-basketball beginners involved.
They recall from the company chaired by Andrea Maineri: “At the end of the 60s, a primary school teacher, Elio Garassini, brought mini-basketball to Loano and then dedicated a large part of his life to nurturing the young budding basketball players. He did it starting from his elementary school students and obtained great results at national level (Rome, Porto San Giorgio, Naples, Pesaro, Bologna and others), results never achieved in the following years by any Ligurian team“.
“The ’70s represented an unrepeatable period for Loano mini-basketball: all of Italy in basketball knew perfectly where the club from Loano was located. In those years it was for us to compete, with technical balance, against teams from Serie A academies. Our fellow citizen Lino Lardo (former player in Loano, then Serie A player, later great coach of the top division and currently coach of the National Female Senior) was the emblem par excellence of minibasketball in those years: he was already a ‘small’ (even in terms of centimetres) great phenomenon and his technical gestures astounded opposing teams from all over Italy“.
“Today our Loanese mini-basketball center has around 70 male and female members. This is thanks to the union, starting this year, with the minibasket sector of Pallacanestro Loano: a union that aims to increase the number of minibasket enthusiasts in our area and make them retrace the same places where the master he taught mini-basketball to the boys and girls of Loano. We trust that our children can emulate, with their passion, that golden age. A special mention should also be made to a great Loanese player, Simona Tassara, who played in Serie A for years, winning many important titles and who we now have the honor of having as an instructor in the Loanese Minibasket Center“.
“Many players have come out of our nursery who have played and currently play the fields of Serie A. We mention a few, from the new generations: Nicolò Benedusi, Giacomo Cacace, Alberto Cacace, Tommaso Oxlilia, Gianluca Fea and the young Larry Olmi, born in 2010 and currently in the ranks of the Virtus Bologna youth team. Our commitment is always to offer moments of healthy sporting competition. Like the Garassini Tournament, which will involve many children from other Ligurian realities who share the great common passion of basketball, without any exaggerations but in the name of pure and pure fun“.
The tournament will see the participation of Basket Loano Garassini, Finale Basket Club, Basket Le Torri di Albenga and Polisportiva Basket Varazze. At 10 Loano and Finale will face each other, while at 11 Albenga and Varazze will face each other on the parquet floor of the arena. In the afternoon, starting at 2.45 pm the final for the third and fourth place between the losers of the first round will be held, while at 4.00 pm the final for the first and second place between the two winners will be played; the award ceremony is scheduled at 17.30.
