site.btaBulgaria Basketball Star Sasha Vezenkov Supports New Project for Development of Bulgarian Basketball Stars

A new basketball project, which will strive to shape Bulgaria's future stars, was launched in Sofia on Friday and was supported by the best Bulgarian basketball player, Alexander (Sasha) Vezenkov. The Sofia Eagles project is part of the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategy of Bulgarian logistics company EuroSpeed.

"Our main goal is to promote basketball in Bulgaria among the youngest, to engage more children in sports and of course to build the next stars in this sport", said Nikolay Rashkov, EuroSpeed's Chief Operating Officer. He expressed his belief that every successful company in Bulgaria should be actively engaged with its local community. "We are extremely happy that our biggest star at the moment, Alexander Vezenkov, got behind the project and we have his support at every level", Rashkov also said.

The club's structure is modelled on the leading teams in Europe, with the innovative adolescent programme being a hybrid model of two of the continent's top schools. The team is led by coaches with significant experience working with young players, graduates of the European Basketball Federation's FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate (FECC) programme.

The team has six indoor multi-purpose courts located in two sports facilities. Each court has 6 baskets and flooring of the highest international quality standards.

The team's equipment is provided by GSA, the official partner of the Euroleague basketball teams Olympiacos and Zalgiris. The company specializes in producing high quality sportswear, entirely made in Europe and with a minimal carbon footprint from its operations. In addition to being a leader in basketball apparel, GSA is a company with a clearly stated position of reaching completely zero emissions.

"Our mission is to provide comprehensive training for young players and enable maximum development of each individual's qualities", said project sports director Hristo Tsenov. "Our goal is that in the next few years Sofia Eagles will select and develop players from Bulgaria who will become part of the national selections in adolescents as well as the strongest basketball leagues", Tsenov added.

Automotive giant Volkswagen, a long-time business partner of the company, also supported the venture. "We believe there is no point in success and we are not truly great if we do not make a beneficial difference to our environment and our society",  Volkswagen Brand Manager for Bulgaria Nestor Nestorov stressed. "We are fortunate that we share the same values with the people and companies we work with and can deliver worthwhile projects together. It is a privilege and a responsibility for Volkswagen to support a cause that promotes sport in children from an early age," Nestorov said, adding that children need to be encouraged and inspired to grow up confident in themselves, but also to understand the power of team and discipline - something that a team sport like basketball can give them.