Euroleague stars come together for One Team

Players representing 2016-17 Turkish Airlines Euroleague teams came together in Barcelona on Tuesday to show their solidarity with the corporate social responsibility programme One Team, which is central to the mission of their clubs to use the power of basketball to help at-risk groups all across the continent.

Long-time stars and rookies alike took time out from their offseason pursuits to dedicate time to learning how One Team has helped make marginalized men, women and children by the thousands feel more comfortable in their communities thanks to the support of Euroleague clubs and Turkish Airlines, Founding Partner of One Team.

The players received expert instruction from two of their colleagues who are well-versed in the benefits of the five-year-old programme: current Euroleague champion Victor Khryapa, the One Team Ambassador for CSKA Moscow, and former champion and current Euroleague Basketball Ambassador, Joe Arlauckas.

"You need to find the time to engage with the community, especially with One Team, and help people," Khryapa said. "Because after you do it, you will realize that it's very important. When you are playing, this is why the kids look up to the players and the stars. Even one second is important to them, and not in a basketball way. It's important that you are there and give them your heart and support and teach them how to live life through basketball."

"When I was a player there was nothing like this to reach out and engage with the community," Arlauckas told the players. "As an ex-player, with all the experiences I've had, it's nice to give back. It's nice to see all you guys here doing this, too. You guys are the ones who everyone looks up to, even I do."
The session, held at FC Barcelona Lassa's training facility, Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, featured information and activities that demonstrated for the players precisely how the One Team methodologies have become a positive force for everyone from immigrant children and people fighting substance abuse to orphans and juveniles in trouble with the law.

The players even had the opportunity to put themselves in the place of One Team participants when they joined wheelchair basketball players of UNES Unió Esportiva, from FC Barcelona Lassa's One Team programme, for a short game to close the day's activities.
"It was unusual for us to play in a wheelchair, but it shows that if you have problems, you still can play basketball and do many things," Paulius Jankunas of Zalgiris Kaunas said.

"We learned today a lot of stuff about how, if you have some problem, that is no reason to give up some dream you have," Branko Lazic of Crevena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade said. "You need to find the way and the reason to keep fighting for what you want, like these guys. They love basketball, like we do, and they find a way to play. They don't use being in wheelchairs as a reason to give up. They are laughing and having fun. It's great to see."

With both knowledge and experience in their pockets after the session, the players were encouraged to keep spreading the One Team message going forward as they go back home to add their enthusiasm to the local programmes that a total of 34 Euroleague Basketball clubs support in order to make life better for those with problems.

"You are role models already," Abigail Martin, Head of CSR & Development Projects for Euroleague Basketball, said. "So if you just join in some of what we do with One Team, you will already be helping people who need it. Even if you don't become a One Team Ambassador, you can lend support to the ambassador on your team and those of you who are active on social media can spread the word of One Team to all your fans."

"First, it's an amazing program that Euroleague does," Guy Pnini of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv said. "I did a couple sessions in Tel Aviv with Nikola Vujcic and Devin Smith, our One Team Ambassadors, but today's session gives me the will to be one of the ambassadors myself. Amazing kids, amazing that they are doing what they love with all the problems they have. We can learn from them. They say that they learn from us, but we need to learn from them."

The One Team gathering tipped off two weeks' worth of activities comprising the Euroleague Basketball Institute Annual Workshops, which was to continue with further meetings Tuesday among the players, who are to be followed by their head coaches on Wednesday and Thursday.