Parents and children who play on the same team, couples who do sports while their baby (dressed in the colors of the team) rests next to the bench, mothers who allow a respite … The Free Basket, which celebrated their cup finals on June 24 and 25 in the Indoor Pavilion of the Magic Box, is the competition that allows you to continue enjoying the basketball despite the family or labor obligations. A flexible league, without age and for everyone.
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David González / Dept. FBM communication
Photos: Rocío Benítez / Óscar Ribas / DG
Two days, five clues, twenty games, forty teams … The magic box was filled with basketball and an illusion that never ends, even if it starts late. As in the case of Ernesto Calamonte, of Colmenar Viejos. It is the second year that his team plays the Free Basket and the third that he plays to basketball. “I am 45 years old, that this summer will be 46, and I have been playing three. We are a group of friends who started playing in Pachanga plan, to throw some shots, and we wanted a little more. Last year’s experience in the Cup was good and we decided to repeat. The league is very good. There is a healthy atmosphere and is very well organized,”.
Colmenar Viejos plays his games at the Ideo school, twenty kilometers from his town. “As the games are in the afternoon, we leave the children placed and almost lying down, and we come … Besides, at that time there is little traffic”. In the Free Basket, the (veterans) players of Colmenar Viejos have learned “To compete as a team, to control the nerves in the key moments …”
If for Ernesto it is the second year in the Free Basket, Gloria Defensor has been from the beginning. Eleven years later, with 43, he has three children, but motherhood is not an obstacle to continue playing. “The League is phenomenal. It is a great schedule, from eight or nine o’clock at night. For which we have children you can combine perfectly. It is an ideal competition at an ideal schedule. In addition, many categories have been created to choose from. The first year we started in senior and now we are in O35”. And it is that the Free Basket has no age roof. “Why not continue playing basketball? Before it was on Saturdays or Sundays and now during the week. And with a very good atmosphere … that’s why I recommend the Free Basket to everyone”says Gloria.
Some leave children at home, others take them to the court (convenient dressed in the colors of the team) … and some share track. This is the case of Iván del Alamo and his son Daniel, who played (and won) the men’s final bronze with The Flowers. “Playing with my son is a pride -Afirma Iván- In fact, another son of mine was playing in the league. I lack the little one, 15 years old. Let’s see if I can endure a little more and play with the three. “ Father and son praise the free basket. “It is very well mounted, especially for people who have little time and need to combine it with other things. It is an opportunity to continue doing sports, which is what moves us and we all like it,”Daniel points out. “You play on a good track, do not get wet and you have a little game every week to get together with friends and enjoy”summarizes Ivan, which “kid” He played in federated competition and has been in Free Basket for six years. His son played until last year in the first autonomic and now, “For work issues, this was the best option.”
That is the goal of the Free Basket: being the best possible option for all those who want to continue enjoying basketball. The president of the FBM, Santos Moraga, also approached the Magic Fund: “Free Basket is a competition created for all players and players who want to continue practicing their sport. Everyone likes to compete, receive a trophy or take a photo, but above all it is about continuing to enjoy, to have a good time.”
