NEWS

The Ülker Little Ones Basketball Festival, organized for the eighth time this year, will bring tiny basketball players from the four corners of Türkiye together in Çanakkale. At the festival - where there is no winning or losing - the kids will have the opportunity to do sports for 5 days. In addition to basketball a trip will be organized to the Çanakkale Monument for the little participants and they will also have the opportunity to participate in social activities such as talent shows and picnics. The nearly 1,000 students who participate in the festival will be given medals and participation certificates after the festival.

Yıldız Holding Corporate Communication Sports Sponsorships Manager Mehmet Uçan emphasized that they place high significance on participating in projects that provide education for children, enabling the potential in our country to be utilized in the most productive way and expanding the reservoir of talent. He said, “As a brand that has been in sports for many years we place a lot of importance on cooperating with football and basketball clubs and federations to give our support to sports, the development of the sports industry and projects for children, who are the future of Türkiye and Turkish sports. Our goal is to contribute to the creation of healthy generations that have made sports a part of their lives. The Basketball festival, which was organized by the Turkish Basketball Federation and supported by us, is an important activity in terms of children gaining the habit of playing sports and learning the concepts of being a team, sharing and showing respect for everyone in the game. The children also have the opportunity to see a different city, tour historical places of interest and gain knowledge. We have reached 5,500 children in the festivals that we have supported until the present.”

‘Children First’…
Uçan continued, “By saying ‘Children First’ we have placed children at the core of our work. We focus on projects that are based on children. We believe that our “Out to the Field” project that we have brought to life with our Içim brand this year is one of these projects. The “Out to the Field” project, which encourages young people to play basketball and aims to create a generation with a more active lifestyle is being conducted by basketball player Ibrahim Kutluay. Within the scope of the project, Kutluay instructs young people on basketball rules, hosts famous people from the basketball community and presents examples from their experiences on the TV program that is broadcast on NTV Sports every Saturday.

Turkish Basketball Federation National Activities Authority Emre Türegün said, “As a different approach to all our other activities, rather than winning or losing, we encourage our little athletes to become familiar with basketball and also to participate in activities outside of basketball to enjoy a full 5 days. Maybe this event will enable some little athletes to venture out of the provinces where they live for the first time and have the chance to make new friends. Also, with the organization of the festival they are able to obtain knowledge about the province in which the activities are being held through city tours that are orchestrated. This year’s host city, Çanakkale, is a very important location from this perspective.”

Türegün continued: “Throughout our festival 1,000 athletes, nearly 100 trainers and close to 50 referees will play an active role in the organization. In 5 days and at 5 separate sports facilities 48 boys and 16 girls teams for a total of 64 teams will play in 224 games. At the end of the games all participants will be presented with certificates of achievement and champion awards as well as various gifts from our sponsor Ülker.  Also in the festival we have organized a talent show in which one athlete from each team will participate, as well as a picnic.”

Türegün concluded by saying that on Sunday July 4, the last day of the festival, the little athletes will play their last match and head back to their homes with many wonderful memories and friendships.