The third Street Ball tournament will be held at Girne Municipality Sports facilities on 10, 11 and 12 September. The tournament will be organised this year by the Mediterranean Sports Association in cooperation with the Municipality of Girne and the Prime Ministry Anti-Drug Commission. A press conference was held at the Girne Municipality New Service Building regarding the tournament.
Mediterranean Sports Union President, Serhat Deniz, emphasised that the Union is very happy to organise the 3rd Street Ball Tournament, and stated that their aim is to spread the love of basketball in the country in general, especially in Girne. Recalling that the event was like a 3-day festival with the participation of 90 teams last year, Mr Deniz stated that the registrations will continue until Thursday 9th September and 40 teams have registered so far.
The tournament will have 7 categories. A special award will be given in memory of Kemal Hıfsıoğlu, who made very important contributions to the country’s basketball and who passed away last year. Deniz thanked everyone who contributed to the organisation and supported it with sponsorship.
President of the Prime Ministry Anti-Drug Commission, Hasan Karaokçu, stated that as a commission, they organised many activities with municipalities and non-governmental organisations in order to keep young people away from addiction and bad habits, and pointed out that the commission has been in close cooperation with the Municipality of Girne and the Mediterranean Sports Union since its establishment.
Commenting that due to the Covid 19 pandemic, children, young people and their families have become more dependent on the internet and have stayed away from social life, sports and cultural activities. Mr Karaokçu emphasised that events such as this Street Ball Tournament gain even more importance.
Özlem Ratip, Representative of the Mediterranean Sports Union, confirmed that the event will comply with the Covid19 measures, and that PCR, Antigen tests, vaccination reports will be requested from the athletes, teams and all participants. Maximum attention will be paid to mask, social distance and hygiene rules.
The tournament will be held in 7 different categories and Ratip said, gift certificates will be given to the 1st place winners in the U11-U-15 categories, 750TL for the U-15 winners, 800TL for the U-17 winners, 1,000TL for the U-20 winners, 1,250TL for the seniors category and 1,000TL for the Masters category winners.
Girne Mayor, Nidai Güngördü, emphasised that while the Covid 19 epidemic continues, the society should adapt to the “new normal”, and noted that vaccination, PCR and antigen tests gain even more importance at this point. Güngördü stated that the Municipality, the Prime Ministry Anti-Drug Commission and the Mediterranean Sports Union will do their best to ensure that this event is completed without any adverse health effects. Expressing his belief that the tournament will be held in a festive atmosphere this year, Güngördü reminded everyone taking part that they should be very careful to observe Covid measures this year.
Also noting that, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, children, young people and their families have been staying at home for about 18 months and have become more dependent on the internet and smartphones and avoiding social life, cultural and sports activities, Güngördü said that it is important for the youngsters to enjoy activities on the streets, even if only for a short while.
Mayor Güngördü noted that during the 18-month period, in cooperation with the Prime Ministry Anti-Drug Commission and the Mediterranean Sports Union, young people organised many activities to increase the morale of children.
Emphasising that vaccination, PCR and antigen tests gained even greater importance in this period when schools are planned to be opened, Güngördü reminded that there is a big difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals getting the Covid 19 disease.
Source (Turkish) : Girne Municipality
