ALBUFEIRA (Portugal) - The Portuguese basketball community and especially young players in the country were made to wait for this moment for two years due to the pandemic, but the long wait was well worth it.

The 2022 edition of the famed Youth Basketball Festival (Festa do Basquetebol Juvenil) of Portugal , one of the biggest events for young athletes in the Iberian country, kicked off on Sunday April 10 and concluded on Thursday April 14 in the coastal city of Albufeira.

The competitive section of the Youth Basketball Festival included the regional championship for boys and girls in the age groups of U16 and U14.

As many as 850 athletes across those two age groups converged to Albufeira to represent their respective regions.

"After two consecutive years of disappointment at the cancellation of the Festival, this is a magical moment," commented Portuguese Basketball Federation (FPB) president Manuel Fernandes during the opening ceremony at Praca dos Pescadores.

"There are many happy basketball players here. This is the biggest event, but also the most rewarding."

In what is something of a tradition at the Festival, the majority of the players arrived by train on the eve of the first game day, as one of the aims of the event is provide youngsters memorable life moments through their involvement with basketball.

The FPB and the local authorities of Albufeira, with FIBA Europe Secretary General Kamil Novak in attendance, also unveiled their plans for a future project named '3×3 BasketArt'.

The ambitious project aims to use the construction of basketball courts as an instrument that will help to revitalize a district of the city.

A contribution of two euros was made in the name of each of the 1,544 participants at the event - including athletes, officials and volunteers - to the solidarity project 'Basket Solidario'.

FIBA