Venice. Reyer Unified Basket, the team is born with disabled and able-bodied athletes: together for inclusion

VENICE – Sport, integration and inclusion, Umana Reyer launches the unified orogranata basketball team. From the 2024-2025 season, in addition to cheering for coach Neven Spahija’s boys and coach Andrea Mazzon’s girls, Reyyerini supporters will be able to support a third reality in all respects belonging to president Federico Casarin’s club: the Reyer Unified Basketball that he will see take to the field athletes with intellectual disabilities and able-bodied athletes who, through affiliation with Special Olympics, will be registered through Federbasket. The first professional basketball reality to have its own Unified Team affiliated with Special Olympics – explains the Orogranate company – yesterday Reyer presented the new project born thanks to the collaboration of Polisportiva Terraglio, which has been involved in sports inclusion activities for years through Special Olympics Italy . The new orogranata reality, which will wear the same uniform worn in the men’s and women’s Serie A championships, will be made up of a roster of 10-12 kids with intellectual disabilities and at least a couple of players without disabilities (called partners), a coach (responsible of the formation, substitutions and time outs in the match where, however, he cannot provide technical indications) and will train once a week to play a real championship in a season that will run from September 2024 to June 2025. The format of the tournament In fact, Unified Basketball includes a regional phase, an interregional phase and a national finals phase but the discipline is also played at a European and global level.

Reyer Unified Basketball, together to include

Beyond the sporting component of the project, illustrated by Roberta Meneghel responsible for Reyer social activities, the Reyer Unified Basketball team aims to create, through sport, «a world of inclusion and respect, where every single person is accepted and welcomed regardless of their ability or disability». «We are the first reality in Italy to field a unified team and be affiliated with Special Olympics, the Reyer project does not only want to create a sporting but also a social sense of belonging» explained the Reyerino president Casarin in publicly thanking Dr. Federico Munarin, doctor Reyer but also regional vice president of Special Olympics and among the supporters of the new project. «With the signing of this agreement we are writing a beautiful page of inclusion. Reyer has shown foresight and courage, she is the first professional actress to promote the world of disability in basketball. We will provide the technical support, but this will be a real Reyer team” specified Davide Giorgi, president of Polisportiva Terraglio. Also present was Luca Mistretta, a huge Orogranata fan and first player of the Reyer di Basket Unificazione, whose roster will be officially presented on Monday 13 May at the Taliercio during game 2 of the playoff quarter-finals against Reggio Emilia.

The challenges on the field

Countdown at Reyer’s house for the start of the playoff quarterfinals against Unahotels Reggio Emilia. We start tomorrow evening at Taliercio (8pm)where match 2 will also take place on Monday 13th (8.45 pm) while match 3 will move to the PalaBigi on Thursday 16th (8 pm). At the post season Reyer arrived in fourth place in the standings (38), six points ahead of the Emilians who finished fifth. Coach Neven Spahija will have the full roster. «Reggio is a talented team, with two players for each position and a center like Tarik Black who brought energy. We will have to be good at responding to their aggression. So it’s fine to have talent but the experience component will count a lot” underlined the Croatian coach. Previous regular season 1-1: orogranated victory at Taliercio 90-70, Emilian revenge at PalaBigi 77-60.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Read the full article at
The Gazzettino