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EuroLeague Academy in Tel Aviv crowns maiden champion

The first EuroLeague Academy season in Israel drew to a close on Tuesday at Hadar Yosef National Sports Center in Tel Aviv with Ramat Aviv 1 capturing the trophy as the maiden champion of the EuroLeague Academy Tournament Tel Aviv Final Four.

Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv partnered with EuroLeague Academy in organizing the competition and its general manager, EuroLeague Basketball ambassador Nikola Vujcic, was on hand to witness the finals. Vujcic learned the benefits of EuroLeague Academy first-hand; his son, Marin, played the competition and reached the quarterfinals and they attended the finals together.

"It is a great thing that the EuroLeague started this project for kids. It has a big impact for our club," Vujcic said. "Maccabi has started our own girls' program and it is great to see girls involved in the EuroLeague Academy as well. You can hear boys and girls talking with pride, how they are playing in the EuroLeague and it is a great thing to see and I am sure the project will grow more in the future."

The EuroLeague Academy season in Israel featured 16 teams comprised of boys and girls ages 12 and under from Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas. Some 240 children competed during the regular season, in which they were separated into two groups of eight teams with the best four from each group advancing to the quarterfinals, which were played last Friday.

Bloh, a Tel Aviv based school team, joined three teams comprised from Maccabi Tel Aviv academy kids Ramat Aviv 1, Naomi Shemer 1 and Kohav Hatzafon at the Final Four. Ramat Aviv 1 prevailed over Naomi Shemer 1 in the championship game.

For the children, the EuroLeague Academy season as a whole and the Tel Aviv Final Four, in particular, was a funfilled venture that was able to advance their knowledge of basketball. Thanks to Maccabi, there were a number of current and former Maccabi players who visited at different stages of the season to deliver useful advice on the values of sports and the importance of teamwork.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD PICTURES FROM THE EVENT HERE

Euroleague Basketball (EB) is a global leader in the sports and entertainment business, devoted to running the top European competitions of professional basketball clubs under a unique and innovative organizational model. Owned and administered by some of the most successful and historic clubs in the world, EB manages and organizes the continent’s two premier men’s basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup, as well as the sport’s premier under-18 showcase, the EB Adidas Next Generation Tournament.

The EB competitions bring the elite of European basketball to all five continents and to the entire sports community through the OTT platform EuroLeague TV. EB also organizes a series of community and educational programs. Its ground-breaking corporate social responsibility program One Team features 40 clubs that have already made a difference in the lives of over 16,000 participants. Its Sports Business MBA trains future professionals in sports management.

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