3x3 - Interview with Anton Besfamilny

MOSCOW (3x3) - 3x3 basketball is nothing new, Russian basketball tournament organizer Anton Besfamilny will tell you. Indeed the appropriately aged 33 year-old vice-president of Street Basket Association of Russia has been organising tournaments in Russia since 2002; his experience as a 3x3 organizer spans the full spectrum including concept development, recruitment, promotion campaign development, and of course the organisation of the event itself.

 

Organizer's Profile

Name/Surname: Anton Besfamilny Age: 33 years old Studies: Moscow State University - Master's Degree in Sociology Current activities: vice-president of Street Basket Association of Russia and director of AB Team event agency. AB Team organizes sports events since 2002 (areas: concept development and adaptation, recruitment, promo campaign development, event organization) Past activities: General Manager of Reebok 3x3, Nike official agent in RUS

Anton Besfamilny is currently hosting the Moscow round of a country-wide Russian 3x3 Championship, held similarly in 14 different cities throughout the country, with the winners qualifying for a final round - the Russian Championship Finals. Nationwide champion will then present Russia in the Moscow Open, a prestigious international 3x3 tournament. The large number and pyramidal structure of these tournaments makes this an ideal testing ground FIBA's competition management and ranking system.

Russian Championships & Moscow Open

The Moscow Championships is played in four rounds Similar championships are played in 14 of Russia's major cities Winners of each city play the Russian Championship Finals, which will be played in Moscow on July 23rd Winner of the latter becomes the Russian rep at the Moscow Open

FIBA: So Anton, what led you to organise 3x3 events?

Anton Besfamilny: When I was studying at Moscow University, I used to play 3x3 basketball. I was invited by one man to organize a tournament - the Reebok 3x3. This was a national project which became very popular in Russia in 2002: it was the only commercial project for Reebok. Since 2007, under of patronage of Sergey Baydakov (head of the Central district of Moscow), we organized Street Basket Association. The community of basketball players has grown a lot since, and it is still growing.

FIBA: What exactly is your implication on the 3x3 FIBA test events this summer?

Anton Besfamilny: At the moment we are testing FIBA rules in two Championships, the Championship of St. Petersburg and the Championship of Nizhny Novgorod it's the third biggest city in Russia. We are also testing the FIBA Organizer software at the Moscow Championship. And we hope we can test FIBA rules in the final of Moscow league of Moscow Championship, which is called Grunis Cup it will be held on the 16th of July of this year.

FIBA: What in your view are the main challenges that face 3x3 basketball today?

Anton Besfamilny: The first thing is that National Federations were not interested in the World of 3x3 basketball. This is currently changing with the help of FIBA. But when I started to work in this area the situation was not like this.

The second thing is that we still don't have common rules, because in every country they have their own rules, which are based on the experience of commercial projects. In most countries they don't have help from their government or anyone else to develop 3x3 basketball. For example in Russia we have a very strong President of our Streetbasketball association (Sergey Baydakov) and he helps us a lot with venues, with services, sponsorship and so on. But the situation is not the same all over the World.

FIBA: What do you think about the FIBA 3x3 project?

Anton Besfamilny: I'm glad that FIBA is beginning to work on this project and I think that FIBA should work with real organizers who have experience in this area. I have some hopes of reaching the Olympics with 3x3 basketball.

FIBA: What must 3x3 basketball overcome to become a success?

Anton Besfamilny: The first thing is that 3x3 basketball should be recognized by everybody not as a different kind of basketball but as an independent kind sport which has restored that culture and is based on this subculture.

The second thing is that we should unite 3x3 basketball all over the World, all the organizers and so on. I think we should use the current legends of big basketball as well as grow our own legends of 3x3 basketball, to promote this kind of sport.

FIBA: Anton, where do you see 3x3 basketball in ten years' time?

Anton Besfamilny: I see 3x3 basketball as being part of the Olympics, to have a network of tournaments between continents with high level tournaments. As for our tournament I see it big amounts of local play grounds, local tournaments and big amounts of players and people involved.

FIBA