3x3 - Interview with Vlad Constantinescu

BUCAREST (3x3) For Vlad Constantinescu 3x3 basketball has become part of his everyday life. The 35 year old has been organising tournaments in Romania since 2005. He is the founder and co-owner of the ever growing Sport Arena association and he is intensely involved in the promotion of 3x3.

Vlad Constantinescu and Sport Arena have just ended a very successful 2011 3x3 basketball season with over four thousand participants from all over the country as well as abroad. Sport Arena are experts when it comes to sport facilities, the courts and everything else related to the game is FIBA approved so players and spectators have the best conditions to play and watch 3x3 games.

FIBA: When and how did Sport Arena start?

Vlad Constantinescu: It's a very simple story, when I was in High school I liked basketball, mathematics and drinking beer. So during that period my teammates and I  played a lot of 5 on 5 and 3x3 basketball games. We didn't just play at school but we also played abroad like in Turkey, France and Holland.
So after having played in different countries, I was disappointed to see that we didn't have the same infrastructure and events such as those countries. So at first we helped build proper sport facilities all over Romania and after we decided to organise events on the facilities that we gave to the community. Everything started in 2004 but our first 3x3 tournament was in September of 2005 and we had 30 teams meaning about 100 players and no spectators.

FIBA: What are Sport Arena's main activities?

Vlad Constantinescu: We are one of the biggest sport companies in the country. We have built hundreds of indoor and outdoor sport facilities, and also we have been organising sport events for basketball, football, table tennis and so on. We work a lot with municipalities and sport clubs so we are pretty well known all around Romania.  

FIBA: What is your position and role in Sport Arena?

Vlad Constantinescu: I am one of Sport Arena's owners and one of the managers, I'm responsible for marketing and I also participate in the building of indoor projects and organising sports events. But all this wouldn't be possible without the incredible team here of whom I'm very proud of because like basketball it's a team effort.

FIBA: Since organising 3x3 tournaments, what would you consider as being the biggest challenges?

Vlad Constantinescu: To be honest with you, when we started in 2005 we set as an ultimate goal to organise the biggest 3x3 competition in the world. I will never forget that goal because it is still what we are working towards. We have invested our money and also money from our sponsors in these events and now, after six years, we have made considerable progress regarding that goal. Within the next two to three years with the help of FIBA we believe that we can achieve that. Obviously the biggest challenge is trying to promote this sport in the country because football will always be the top sport just like everywhere in Europe.  However we've noticed that in schools there are a lot more kids playing basketball now than before, so this shows us that it's constantly growing.  I hope that in the future there will be more people playing basketball than football.

FIBA: What do you think about the FIBA 3x3 project and how does it affect Sport Arena?

Vlad Constantinescu: FIBA can help with the globalisation of 3x3. About six years ago we had a meeting in Cologne with Mr. Baumann and we had a very short conversation concerning 3x3 basketball, at the time it seemed that he wasn't very optimistic.  However in the last 2 years FIBA and FIBA Europe have come to realise that 3x3 basketball is the future. I really believe that FIBA has become the prime unifier of the 3x3 world, they have really helped for the globalisation of the game. My feeling is that FIBA will achieve their goal of making this an Olympic discipline in 2016. I really hope that FIBA will continue with what they are doing so that in five years we'll be able to play 3x3 basketball in Rio.  I'm also satisfied with our cooperation with FIBA these last years and I'm also optimist for the future cooperation.

FIBA: Where do you see 3x3 basketball in Romania within the next ten years?

Vlad Constantinescu: In Romania we've already seen a considerable increase these past seven years. Now not only is 3x3 basketball played in every big city in Romania but also in small villages.  Now we have up to one thousand people playing on some weekends then I can easily imagine having over ten thousand people playing on a regular basis in ten years time. There will also be more live TV coverage because there are more and more fans who want to watch this and with FIBA's help it can only grow. And in the next years we'll host one of the most important 3on3 events in the world, as I said before, you'll see!


FIBA