Summer 2023 didn’t leave us dry. Waiting for the feast of emotions that will fill the basketball September between the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, the European August was and still is a tasty appetizer. It was the nationals Under 16first the men’s and now the women’s, to remind us how much it would be right to get excited and momentarily pause the age-old exercise of sterile controversy that permeates Italian sporting culture.
In the men’s event hosted in North Macedonia, coach Mangone’s boys took the stage until the final act, where for 38′ out of 40′ they looked Spain in the eye with enthusiasm and pride. If that wasn’t enough, it will be another one Italy-France to determine the second finalist of the women’s tournament in Türkiye. For an alternative late-summer Friday evening, tune in to the FIBA YouTube channel, 8.30pm: whoever wins will earn the chance to get on the highest step of the podium on Sunday, whoever loses will have won anyway. Because, of all things, this is by far the hardest to understand but the most important to internalize.
For the young talents wearing the Italy jersey for the first time and for the FIP itself, the result on the field of the youth continental tournaments would be the last thing to consider. There is no mention of professionals, of athletes who can only dream of working thanks to basketball for now. I am girls and boys, girls and boys, whose priority is still training as human beings, who meet at best for the first time in a year, at worst for the first time in their lives.
Pretending to immediately create a technical and tactical understanding is wrong, as is dwelling on a game lost by the wire in a knockout tournament. The only people who know this, but who too often aren’t properly consulted and supported, are those who are less celebrated when it comes to recognizing merits: coaches, assistants and technical staff.
The silver of#Italbasket U16 and the talents of U18 have been outstanding, but behind these successes there is a silent and tireless work. The coaches. They are the forgotten protagonists. Threads ????
— Nicolò Fiumi (@nickfiumi) August 14, 2023
L’Italbasket U16 men showed guys who don’t speak our language yet but who have proven to be leaders in the field (Adrian Mathis) and talents who would have liked to be there but had to give up for non-basketball reasons (Jalen Montonati), some of whom trained entirely abroad or who are preparing to live experiences beyond our borders.
With different nuances, the same concept is applicable to the roster of theItalbasket U16 female: an example for all, Nicole Torresani, 3×3 player engaged in FIBA tournaments until mid-July and who will play in Luxembourg during the year with the Sparta Bertrange shirt. Different formations, basketball and personal backgrounds among the most disparate and varied. The risk of creating a jumble and not a group that cultivates the desire to wear the same shirt in the years to come is very high but, with the right people in the right place, it is the federation’s job to avert it.
Dutiful thehear all those who create the right climate to put girls and boys at ease, creating a positive entropy that, hopefully, will continue to feed over the years. The least that can be written is give names and surnames of those who have put girls and boys in a position to feed the feeling you feel when you watch Italy play, regardless of the stakes.
MEN’S U16 ITALBASKETBALL STAFF
(source: FIP.it)
SALVATORE TRAINOTTI (General manager)
ROBERTO NARDI (Head of Delegation)
GIUSEPPE MANGONE (Coach)
ALFREDO LAMBERTI e VANNI MOLE (assistant coach)
ROBERT MOROCCO (Preparer)
ANDREA BULGHERONI (Medico)
VALERIO CONTI (Physiotherapist)
SUNDAY MERONI (Team Manager)
ITALBASKETBALL U16 FEMALE STAFF
(source: FIP.it)
SALVATORE TRAINOTTI (General manager)
ROBERTO BRUNAMONTI (Team Director)
JOHN LUCCHESI (Coach)
MARTINA GARGANTINI e FABIO FRIGNANI (assistant coach)
FEDERICA TUNNEY (Physical trainer)
SILVIA SARULLO (Medico)
RAFFAELA AGOZZINO e SILVIA GANDINI (Physiotherapist)
FRANCESCO FORESTAN (Team Manager)
GEORGE MAGGI (Head of Delegation)
