Life in the Bubble, with Euroleague (Junior) Basketball
Honestly, I have never thought that I would be part of the team that would spend the extended weekend “in the bubble”, meaning that nobody from the group of 23 people couldn’t leave the premises of the hotel and the arena.
I joined the team of Basket Brno Next Generation in their first ever trip to Adidas NG Tournament, held in Istanbul. I was assigned as team’s PR manager, meaning that I would do some interviews, and mostly be taking pictures.
My husband is the head coach and director of the team that was invited to the tournament, that includes some big names on club scene in Europe, such as Real Madrid, Zalgiris Kaunas, Efes Pilsen, among others.
The Euroleague did a good job of keeping the players, staff and team’s followers excluded from the outside world. They tried their best to separate even the teams, different times for meals, meeting rooms, etc. Nobody was hanging out in the lobby, which is very usual during these tournaments.
Tournament itself was broadcasted online, via Euroleague and YouTube, which was great since the games were closed to public.
I was fortunate to be allowed to be on the floor, and even though I had to always have a mask on, I was able to change spots on the floor, go into the stands and even get some cool pictures taken from above the floor.
People were genuinely nice and helpful, which is great in such times like present pandemic.
It was great to be part of the team, to feel their excitement from their first experience from the tournament, and even though they managed to win just one game out of four, they all seem to enjoy just to play and compete.
At the end, Basket Brno finished 7th but one of their players got selected in the All-Star team, which is very unusual, and it shows its value. It was definitely a great experience and everyone seemed to enjoy to play games, to compete and to feel a bit normal during this strange time.
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