Last season saw Spanish League champion Valencia Basket deliver a brand new “Taronja” project as part of Euroleague Basketball’s One Team social responsibility initiative.
Alongside the charitable organisation Cáritas and their Proyecto Hydra activities, the club worked with local teenagers to promote wellness and social inclusion, using the facilities at La Petxina sports complex in the city.
The project, which was supported by Obra Social La Caixa, was led by Valencia’s One Team coaches Paco Pardo, Pepe Casares and Juanjo Rojo.
One of the participants was a young girl called Tina, who came from an unstructured family background and was experiencing behavioural problems as a result.
After spending time attending One Team’s weekly sessions, which encouraged the participants to enjoy positive experiences and learn healthy habits which can then be transferred into everyday life, Tina’s attitude changed.
She developed a better approach towards other people, and soon started to love helping. Before long Tina decided to become a volunteer for One Team so she could do more to help her teammates, allowing her to change the manner of her relationships.
Now she intends to continue to be a volunteer, and is regarded by fellow participants as a great example of how much One Team can achieve.
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.
Since its founding in 2012, the One Team programme has reached already directly and indirectly 14,000 participants through its various team projects.
