The annual One Team Awards will be presented during September’s Annual Workshop, and between now and then we will be telling a short success story from each of the six shortlisted clubs. Today we feature Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse.
Juliette is a 14-year-old who was born deaf. Alongside this disability, she also suffers vestibular disorders which impact her energy and limit her coordination, along with a persecution complex that makes her feel as though the world is against her.
Joining Bourg’s One Team program was therefore a huge challenge for Juliette – she felt judged, isolated and often misunderstood. Her physical inabilities meant that even the most basic of drills required immense concentration and exertion. Before starting the program, Juliette could not even catch a ball, but she spent her evenings learning to do so by catching balloons.
With the help of her coaches, Juliette was able to learn that overcoming her fears and her difficulties could bring very beautiful things. Although her natural tendency was to be scared of teamwork, feeling out of place and left out, the One Team group showed her that they accepted her and that they would support her.
Juliette is a role model to all, proving that no obstacle is too great to overcome. She never gave up and persevered with a smile on her face. She wowed her teammates and coaches with her tenacity, encouraging them to keep on pushing her to set new goals and celebrating her achievements along the way.
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.
With an innovative model of interconnectedness across an entire continent, Euroleague Basketball and its clubs have developed a complete CSR program that brings together activities from each team in an integrated, impactful way, working under the theme of ‘community integration’ that actively addresses targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 on Reduced Inequalities.