Olympiacos Piraeus has been unveiled as the recipient of the main prize while Adam Waczynski was named winner of the inaugural Best One Team Ambassador award.

Milan, Zalgiris also awarded for their projects

The winners of the annual One Team Awards have been announced. Milan and Zalgiris have also been awarded for their projects. 

One Team, founded in 2012 with the backing of Turkish Airlines and enjoying the long-time proud partnership of Special Olympics, is Euroleague Basketball’s social responsibility program, which sees clubs from all over Europe use the power of basketball to support vulnerable members of their local communities.

The 2020-21 season saw many clubs improve their programs despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced clubs to find new ways of connecting with their One Team participants. The achievements of the last year and plans for the future have all been discussed at the One Team Annual Workshop including the presentation of the awards.

“I would like to thank all the participating teams for their commitment to this program. Last season we were all tested by the global circumstances and One Team perfectly symbolizes the capacity to overcome difficulties with hard work and solidarity,” stated Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball CEO. “Congratulations to all the awarded programs and I would like to invite you all to enjoy the celebrations we will stage this season for the tenth anniversary of One Team.”

The awards announced by the judges were One Team Bronze Program: Zalgiris Kaunas; One Team Silver Program: AX Armani Exchange Milan; One Team Gold Program: Olympiacos Piraeus.

Penelope Giovanovits, One Team Manager from Olympiacos, said: “We are really happy to win the gold One Team award, but what really makes us glad is that in our tenth year we can keep learning and growing. Using that knowledge to change lives is the biggest award any of us can get. Congratulations to all the clubs because they made incredible efforts and achievements throughout a challenging period.”

Zalgiris One Team Manager Akvile Dagilyte commented: “It feels so good to be among the top three clubs. All the clubs made a great effort in such difficult circumstances. And the real reward is that we, together with all clubs, managed to achieve a great impact in our local communities in this difficult time. And this was the time when our communities needed the One Team program the most.”

Michele Samaden, One Team Manager for AX Armani Exchange Milan, added: “We are very happy about this award, which we share with all the children and teachers at the Baroni School, our partner Laureus and our ambassadors Gigi Datome and Kyle Hines. It has been a difficult season but the desire to help our children has given us the motivation to stay close to them in a different way. It is a great satisfaction to have been able to improve every year the program, which has become richer in content that can really change lives.”

The other teams named on the initial shortlist for the awards were Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse, Unicaja Malaga and Zenit St Petersburg.

The very first One Team Ambassador Award was also presented, recognising the great work carried out by players of both 7DAYS EuroCup and Turkish Airlines EuroLeague clubs as they get involved with the weekly activities organized by their clubs.

Adam Waczynski, former player of Unicaja Malaga, was named the winner, and he said: “I feel emotional to win this award. I’m very happy because all the kids have done a great job adapting to the circumstances during the pandemic. I can see how they have evolved, not only in basketball but also in life values. For me, when I help these kids I feel it in my blood and my heart. Every time we were together it gave me so much joy and love. I would encourage any player to work with One Team because each minute we spend with kids means the world to them, even if it’s just to chat for a few minutes. It might only be a small thing for us, but it’s a big thing for the kids. And the more people that think this way, the more beautiful the world can be.”

A special Judges Award for the best newcomer was presented to EuroCup club Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse, and Club President Julien Desbottes said: “Bourg and Euroleague Basketball share the same vision for basketball. It is a 360 degree vision, not only what happens on the court but the values we can share with everyone, and this is embodied by One Team. So this award is very important for our club and represents the quality and rigor that we try to have outside the basketball court.”



Olympiacos, Waczynski named One Team Awards winners

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz carries out its One Team program along with the Gizarterako Association, a local organisation focused on social integration with a strong street presence.

Time pays off with Baskonia's One Team program

One of the participants is Destiny, a boy whose social worker Nuria Zapatero recalls: “Destiny caught my attention from the very first day, four years ago. He was a child with a sad, distrustful look. He looked at you with fear and a little bit of resentment, but behind those eyes there was a child crying, screaming, asking for help and affection. “His emotions of fear, anger and mistrust led him to aggressive and angry behaviour. I got in touch with his social educator and we shared information in order to be able to help.”

Part of the process of helping Destiny find a better life was including him in Baskonia’s One Team program, which encouraged him to develop positive habits and attitudes by using lessons from basketball. And although the process was not immediate, as time passed Destiny was able to really change his life for the better.

“The sessions with his educator and his mother, along with the work and play with his One Team coach Ana Mari and his teammates, mean that after four years Destiny gained confidence,” said Zapatero. “He now has the security to have the calm look of a child who has fun playing basketball with his friends.”

One Team Coach Ana Maria Garcia added: “At first, Destiny showed aggressive behaviour due to his strong character. He had conflicts with his teammates, he had a lot of anger and frustration if things didn't go his way. He didn't accept the rules, everything was a call for attention. But now he has radically changed his behaviour. He doesn't miss any session, he is punctual, he brings the right equipment, he doesn't get angry when he is corrected and he is very participative and respectful with his teammates and coach.”

The club’s One Team Manager Iker Gonzalez de Garibay believe Destiny’s development is a great example of taking a long-term approach with children and understanding that changes won’t always happen overnight. “From my point of view, stories like this show the importance of consolidating the social project and giving it continuity over time,” he said. "As the poet Maya Angelou said: ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ All of our One Team staff are very aware of this and Destiny has become an important pillar of our team because of his charisma.”

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 meaningful social impact in our communities across Europe and is supported by every club in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup. Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has already helped more than 22,000 participants through its various team-focused projects.

Zalgiris Kaunas is working hard to use basketball as a tool to support vulnerable members of its local community as part of One Team, Euroleague Basketball’s social responsibility program.

Tadas gains confidence with Zalgiris and One Team

At the age of 37, Tadas is the eldest Special Olympics athlete in the Lithuanian club’s One Team group, and also the eldest person to have ever participated in Zalgiris’s program.

Although Tadas faces intellectual challenges, he was eager to join the program right from the start. He initially had a hard time trying new things, opening up to people and making friends, and would often quit a new challenge after one attempt.

In time, though, the One Team leadership group supported Tadas in growing his self-confidence and perseverance. He was also encouraged and motivated by his fellow team members, often feeling inspired that they were able to overcome the same obstacles he had faced, as many of them were at varying levels of ability.

By the end of the program, even though many sessions had to be held online this year, Tadas made great strides in overcoming his shyness and confidence issues; he was even volunteering to present games, demonstrating activities to audiences and persevering in ways he would never have managed before.

Since joining One Team, Tadas has now become one of the group’s leaders. Not only does he achieve his personal goals, but he also helps others with their tasks by giving advice and motivating his teammates when they face the same self-confidence issues he previously dealt with. His favourite saying is “We are all as One Team, we have to do it.” And it’s clear that being part of One Team has better equipped Tadas for independent living, whilst also making him a perfect example of how to overcome personal limitations.

Joffrey Lauvergne, Zalgiris’s star center and One Team Ambassador, attended many sessions over the course of last season and has been hugely impressed by the progress made by Tadas and his teammates: “It’s amazing to see One Team participants improving so significantly from session to session,” he said. “At first it seemed challenging having One Team sessions online during quarantine that lasted almost whole season. But it’s a great result that even online sessions let us achieve such great improvements in the One Team participants’ life skills. I’m pretty sure the things Tadas learned will help him a lot in his future life. A huge effort was made by the One Team coaches, and this motivates each of us to continue our work and make an input into this great program which changes lives.”

The positive changes in Tadas were also noticed by Special Olympics Lithuania, whose International Coordinator Vaiva Abramaviciute said: “When we invited Tadas to join the One Team program he was excited but at the same time confused because he would be the oldest participant in the program, and he was never was very talkative. The One Team program changed him a lot. Tadas started to be a leader in the team, encourage everyone not to give up and to be more physically active. He is very inspired by the One Team spirit because it helped him overcome many of his fears and he found new friends for life.”

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 meaningful social impact in our communities across Europe and is supported by every club in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup.

Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has already helped more than 22,000 participants through its various team-focused projects.

The shortlist has been announced for the 2020-21 One Team Program Awards, which recognize the efforts made by Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup clubs to support vulnerable people all over the continent.

One Team Program Awards shortlist announced

Seven clubs from the EuroLeague and EuroCup have been highlighted for outstanding work in their local communities over the last 12 months, and are now contenders for the Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards to be announced during the One Team Annual Workshop in September.

One Team, supported by Turkish Airlines as founding partner and with the collaboration of Special Olympics as a proud partner, uses basketball to achieve meaningful social impact and is supported by every club in the EuroLeague and EuroCup with regular activities, many of which took place online this season due to social restrictions during the pandemic.

Roser Queralto, Euroleague Basketball Chief Business Officer, said: "We are so proud of what our clubs accomplished during the complex 2020-21 season. Our clubs were able to stay connected with those most in need in many different and innovative ways, adjusting to a constantly changing situation and continuing to use basketball to make a positive impact in their communities. Congratulations to everyone involved for doing such amazing work with One Team and especially to the seven clubs shortlisted for the 2020-21 One Team Program Awards."

With the involvement of consultancy ThinkBeyond, the clubs' programs were assessed on several criteria including program planning and delivery, ambassadors' involvement, marketing and communications activities, and the participation of commercial partners.

The nominated teams, their local social partners and their achievements highlighted during the assessment are:

**AX Armani Exchange Milan, in partnership with Fondazione Laureus Sport for Good Italia Onlus, for community cohesion.** A well-thought-out program with a two-phased approach. One of the best examples of sport genuinely achieving social change. Great adaptation to COVID challenges, getting on the court whenever possible and continuing online when not.

**JL Bourg en Bresse, in partnership with AFIS Association, for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.** Good all-round adherence to the criteria and great involvement of the One Team Ambassador and sponsors.

**Olympiacos Piraeus, in partnership with EXELIXI ZOIS, Special Elementary School of Piraeus & Eeeek Anoixis Piraeus, for community cohesion and children with disabilities.** Impressive delivery of two very good programs, outstanding communications and is consistency in looking to build on past programs.

**TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, in partnership with Gizarterako, for community cohesion.** Regular and ongoing activity with a long-term impact on the participants' families with the assistance of the coaches and social workers. Great integration of partners.

**Unicaja Malaga, in partnership with Down Malaga, for people with disabilities.** Good communication, monitoring and evaluation throughout the season, and fantastic ambassador involvement despite COVID difficulties.

**Zalgiris Kaunas, in partnership with Special Olympics Lithuania, for people with disabilities.** Creative plan with drills adjusted to COVID limitations. Good monitoring and evaluation, clearly demonstrating what they do and the difference they make.

**Zenit St Petersburg, in partnership with Contact, for community cohesion.** Good use of a coach alongside a psychologist to support a challenging group, and nice to see some participants become volunteers for the club after the program.



One Team awards - Unicaja Malaga

One Team awards - Zalgiris Kaunas

One Team awards - Zenit St Petersburg

One Team awards - JL Bourg en Bresse

One Team awards - AX Armani Exchange Milan

One Team awards - TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

One Team awards - Olympiacos Piraeus

One Team Awards

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Even top professional athletes have to learn how to deal with failures and disappointment.

Responding to failure with ASVEL and One Team

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne’s One Team program is teaching a group of young people that the only way to respond to setbacks is by working even harder and never giving up.

ASVEL has been working with SESSAD (Service Education Social Soin A Domicile), an organization that takes cares of young people with intellectual disabilities by helping them to integrate through sport, accompanying them in their daily lives and assisting their parents.

Many of the sessions were attended by One Team Ambassador Paul Lacombe and his ASVEL teammate Ismael Bako also joined. Their team talks about how to succeed in life made a major impression on the group.

The club’s One Team Coach Eva Bergeon explains: “We have a lot of young people who struggle with failure management. But when Paul came to see the group he explained to them: ‘Yesterday I lost a game. I was disappointed but now I’m going to get back to work’. The message was so good, they really got it. And since then one youngster always tells me during practise: ‘Paul told me to persevere so I’m going to keep working’.”

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 meaningful social impact in our communities across Europe and is supported by every club in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup.

Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has already helped more than 22,000 participants through its various team-focused projects.



Valencia Basket's One Team program has been a great example of how basketball can make a positive impact in local communities, using the sport to promote well-being and social inclusion.

Valencia and One Team changing lives through basketball

The club has worked with the high school IES Peset Aleixandre de Paterna to create a program of 10 sessions taking place on Thursdays for a group of 16 young people between the ages of 13 and 17.

The participants were given the opportunity to live positive experiences and develop healthy habits of personal improvement that can be transferred to the school or work environments. This all comes through learning the basic concepts of basketball, underlining the values of sacrifice and responsibility inherent in a team sport.

One of the participants, Esther, explained why the sessions – and all aspects of basketball – have made such a difference to her life:

"For me, it is special because I can get away and leave my neighborhood," Esther said. "If you like playing, you can keep doing it, and not only on Thursdays. What I like most is being at the scoring table, where I can help take note of fouls and points."

Elies Vercher, a teacher at the school, also known by La Coma for the neighborhood in which it's located, has been impressed with the impact of the program, saying: "It's very positive for them. This is still hard for some students, but there are others in whom the change is spectacular. You can see the difference in how they work at school to how they work here."

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 meaningful social impact in our communities across Europe and is supported by every club in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup.

Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has already helped more than 22,000 participants through its various team-focused projects.



Stelios, a 14-year-old pupil at Special Elementary School of Perama, in Piraeus, Greece, is a great example of a One Team success story.

Stelios succeeds with One Team and Olympiacos

One Team, Euroleague Basketball's social responsibility program, has finished another season of supporting vulnerable people in our communities all over Europe. Stelios was one of this year's six new participants in the Olympiacos Piraeus One Team program.

Penny Giovanovits, the Events & CSR Manager for Olympiacos, takes up the story:

"When we first saw Stelios, his body language showed that he lacked self-confidence and was insecure in a new environment. As well as epilepsy and mental retardation, he suffers from vision problems that made him feel insecure away from his school. But we saw that Stelios is a person with a big will; he likes to push himself hard and make great efforts until he succeeds.

"One Team gave him the chance to play safely on a real, big basketball court. Very quickly he felt comfortable with our drills, showing his strong character with every new effort he had to make. He completes all the practices with no complaints and in the last session he became our hero. We were in an open court under the hot sun, and it was so difficult for him to score…but he never stopped. We were asking him if he wanted some rest, but he said: 'No way!'

"Most of his shots were too close to the basket, but he listened to our instructions, used some techniques he had learned. The One Team coaches were saying, 'Stelios, you know that you will stay here until you score, no matter how long it will be, right?!' He was laughing and he continued shooting until he finally scored! Even then it was not enough for him, so he continued trying, and scored again! His happiness was something we can't describe. He was so happy, and when we were walking all together outside, he started talking and sharing stories. It was a very sweet moment."

As well as learning how to make basketball shots, Stelios has taken many great personal steps during his One Team sessions. He has improved his personal relationships and his interaction with his parents, friends, teachers and social workers. He is working positively on a daily basis, and his social worker has added basketball into his routine. Sports, and particularly basketball, has been a vehicle for Stelios to communicate better and feel happier.

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 meaningful social impact in our communities across Europe and is supported by every club in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup.

Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has already helped more than 22,000 participants through its various team-focused projects.



Euroleague Basketball's efforts to support our communities are boosted at every club in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup by an official One Team Ambassador – a player who works directly with the program to help vulnerable people in tough situations.

Waczynski family shines for One Team with Unicaja

At Unicaja Malaga, though, Polish scoring ace Adam Waczynski has gone a step further by not only giving his own time to support One Team, but also making sure that his whole family gets involved.

Throughout the season, Unicaja held regular online meetings with Down Malaga, a local association founded 20 years ago by a group of parents whose children have Downs Syndrome with the objective of improving their quality of life and giving them more independence. The program saw 20 participants, aged 19-61, join weekly sessions to learn different life skills through specially designed basketball-based drills.

Many of those sessions were attended by Waczynski, who became a great motivator for the group and made a great impact on the participants, even more so when he was joined by his wife Natalia – who also played in the women's Euroleague and with the Polish Under-20 national team – and their children Julia and Aleks.

Unicaja's One Team Manager Jose Carlos Gaspar said: "This season has been very special. We have all experienced moments that are difficult to describe. In these times you most value the people who help others to feel better and overcome adversity. For this reason, I give even more value to all the help that Adam and his family have given us. I especially thank them for what they have done with a group of young people from Down Malaga, who have appreciated the effort of the Waczynski family and themselves served as an example for the whole society, transmitting respect and caution always. Thank you, team."

Waczynski added: "Being an ambassador of One Team is a big honour for me and my family. We feel this is very important for society, to help them feel better and show that we are all equal. They are amazing people who deserve help and support like no one else in the world. I love to help people in many ways, I love to make them smile. My wife and kids are like me – they love to help, which is why they identify with the program and they do as much as they can."

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 meaningful social impact in our communities across Europe and is supported by every club in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup.

Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has already helped more than 22,000 participants through its various team-focused projects.

On World Environment Day, Euroleague Basketball is pleased to announce it has reached its target of collecting funds to plant more than 6,000 trees.

Euroleague Basketball, One Tree Planted reforestation initiative target reached

Euroleague Basketball works with the One Tree Planted Amazon Rainforest initiative to help restore healthy forests for biodiversity and social impact.

By accomplishing the initial target with the support of fans and stakeholders, Euroleague Basketball and One Tree Planted will be able to:

* Create hundreds of direct jobs on reforestation days.
* Help the families of small farmers recover several hectares of degraded areas.
* Contribute to forest connectivity, restoring endemic wildlife habitat for bird nests and the production of nectar for bees.
* Combat climate change by storing large amounts of carbon.
* Help reduce the spread of future wildfires in the Amazon via appropriate restoration planning.
Everyone willing to participate in this project to help the reforestation of the Amazon Rainforest can continue to donate at [https://euroleague.raisely.com](http://euroleague.raisely.com) – it works as simply as €1 = 1 tree.

This was the first direct climate action in Euroleague Basketball's new sustainability plan for the next 10 years (2021-2030), which will see the competition and its clubs continue to work together as purpose-driven and socially responsible entities.

More projects will follow this first action as part of a bigger, integral plan aimed at making Euroleague Basketball an even more socially and environmentally committed organization aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 agenda and the #GenerationRestoration movement. This will lead our clubs on a joint business sustainability approach by which the impacts will be able to be measured and challenges such as zero-waste operations and sustainable mobility around arenas will be tackled to help bring direct improvement to our communities.



One Tree Planted initiative closing

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