Euroleague Basketball's social responsibility program One Team and BKT have concluded a successful first season of working together, following a number of great initiatives to support local communities.
One Team and BKT celebrate successful first year together
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The highlight of the collaboration came in April, when two newly-refurbished basketball courts were opened at the public TEB Atasehir Anatolian High School, the social partner of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul's One Team program.
The court opening was attended by institutional representatives of Euroleague Basketball, BKT and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, including players and One Team Ambassadors Pierria Henry and Ismet Akpinar, who joined the event to run a special activity with a group of 15 teenage students from the school as they enjoyed their new facility.
The refurbishment process had been supported by One Team participants from Fenerbahce, who volunteered to help with the court paintings.
Fenerbahce was able to use these new courts to hold two special sessions dedicated to the United Nations Sustainability Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 13 (Climate Change), giving One Team participants the opportunity to learn important tips about these vital themes.
Same as in Cologne, BKT's presence was also felt at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four, with the donation of 40 bikes to social entities from the City of Belgrade. The initiative served not only to support local One Team programs, but also to promote healthy habits and sustainable mobility in the city.
Similar donations were made across the continent, with BKT providing five bikes to all of the One Team programs from both the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup.
Roser Queralto, Euroleague Basketball's Chief Business Development Officer, said: "The last few months have been a great way to strengthen even more our relationship with BKT, which shares the values of social inclusion and sustainability that lie behind our One Team program. We look forward to continuing our collaboration next season with many more activities in support of our local communities all over Europe."
Lucia Salmaso, BKT's Managing Director, added: "Euroleague Basketball does so much fantastic work to use the power of basketball as a positive force for social change, and we have been proud to offer our support. BKT wants to go beyond the role of sponsor – our real goal is to leave a mark – and this collaboration is a wonderful example of business and sport working together to support communities. The greatest reward has been seeing the happiness of the children as they play basketball in the refurbished courts and use their bikes in their day-to-day routines."
One Team, supported by Turkish Airlines as the One Team Founding Patron and with the collaboration of Special Olympics as Proud Partner, uses basketball to achieve real social impact in our communities.