WHO WE ARE ….
A group of experienced academics (sport sociologist, basketball trainers, adapted physical educators) and basketball wheelchair experts will collaborate with experienced physical educators in working with participants with special needs to create informative educational digital material for basketball drills not only to raise the capacity in basketball sport organizations (grassroots sport) but to promote social inclusion (in participants with special needs) using the basketball drill games as a mean of inclusion, encouraging in particular the practice of basketball drills (no court need it) and physical activity in disable people, Greece and Bulgaria.
Additionally the educational digital material and the videos of the pilot BasketALL web-platform will be
uploaded on an especially created platform, the Open BasketALL web-platform and will be assimilated
both by the general population and by the people who are in a disadvantaged position, ( people with
disabilities & mobility issues).
In order to achieve this, the participants were selected on the basis of their individual skills and expertise but also taking into account the interrelated impact that would arise from the cooperation of all those different parties, the positive effect that would be intrigued by their individual and merged action, a greatly valued effect as the final outcomes would be the product of contributions from different fields of expertise, however, to be employed for the benefit of many more differentiated groups of people, transforming updated highly scientific knowledge into a comprehensible life-changing tool for those who need it.
Thus, a group of experienced academics/researchers from different scientific fields such as sport
sociologist, adapted physical educators (DUTH and wheelchair-basketball experts aim to collectively
work and promote innovative ways to achieve an upgraded way of life through exercise.
IRODIKOS (Coordinator)
IRODIKOS is a sports club that cultivates sports in which disabled people can participate and is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee.It was established in Komotini in 2006 at the initiative of distinguished athletes – members of the PERPATO Association and scientists of the field of sports and exercise. Within a very short time it managed to be composed and represented by athletes from all over Greece in almost all Paralympic sports with particularly important distinctions in Paralympic Games.
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics we participated with five athletes who were all Paralympians and had the pleasure of celebrating the winning of a gold medal by The Swimmer of the Association Demosthenes Michalentzakis. Today it consists of more than 30 athletes from almost all over the country and maintains training courses for all forms of disabilities and all ages. It spreads the spirit of the Paralympic Movement and gives the opportunity to disabled people to engage in sports and
championship, either for the treatment of psychosomatic health problems of individuals or for exercise.
The international successes of its athletes rank the club in one of the highest positions among sports
clubs developing the sports for disabled people. In 2018 we activated the wheelchair basketball
Department and now participate in the National Championship.
Its objectives from the time of its establishment until today remain.
The promotion and development of Sports for disabled people
The organization of speeches (moral, social, cultural content)
Sports equipment
Development-cooperation with associations and similar domestic & foreign organizations
Saving the necessity of exercise and sports for people with disabilities in order to achieve their
psychosomatic rehabilitation.
Training, through their internships, young budding scientists in the field of disabled sports
(coaches, trainers, physiotherapists, doctors)
It maintains exercise sections in and out of the water in partnership with D.P.th. and the
municipalities of the region.
It has organized, with the participation of volunteers and the support of the municipality of Komotini, with great success two swimming events for disabled athletes from all over Greece, the ‘IRODIKEIA 2005’ and ‘IRODIKEIA 2010’, training and educational programs for the development of Paralympic sports, the International Wheelchair Basketball Tournaments Thrace 2018 and Thrace 2019 with the participation of the national teams of Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus.
He is a member of E.A.O.M. Amea. and of O.S.E.KA.
Sofia-Balkan wheelchair basketball team (Partner)
Sofia-Balkan is the first wheelchair basketball club in Bulgaria, it is established in 2007. Two-time champion of Bulgaria and winner of the Bulgarian Cup. The club has numerous participations in various
domestic and international tournaments, exhibition matches and sports initiatives. Sofia-Balkan players are part of the Bulgarian national team, participating in Division C of the European Championship.The basketball team has regular training every Tuesday and Thursday at 20:00. in the adapted wheelchair hall of the National Stadium ―Vasil Levski‖. Coaches of the team over the years are Assoc. Prof. Krusty Tsarov and Nikolay Ivanov.
In the 2012, the Sofia-Balkan team participated in the first Balkan tournament for wheelchair users in
Romania. The event is attended by the teams of Sofia-Balkan (Bulgaria), Oradea (Romania) and the
team of Poland. The Bulgarians ranked second in the tournament, organized for the seventh
consecutive time by the Romanian basketball team. In 2015. for the first time a basketball tournament
for people in wheelchairs for the Cup of Sofia Municipality is organized. Organizers are Sofia
Municipality, Sofia-Balkan Rotary Club,basketball club for people in wheelchairs Sofia-Balkan, Bulgarian
Basketball Federation and NSA. The purpose of this tournament is to promote basketball for people in
wheelchairs; to contribute to the improvement of physical and mental health and the full integration of
the athletes; to attract public attention, support and new athletes, and to lay the foundations for the
formation of the first national basketball team for wheelchair users. In 2016, the Bulgarian Wheelchair
Basketball Championship was launched. Since then, the team has been a constant participant in the
championship, winning the title twice. Since 2021 Sofia Balkan organizes an annual international
tournament, which aims to popularize the game, build friendly relations between foreign clubs and
prepare for the upcoming season. The first edition was in 2021, when 4 teams took part in the
tournament. Reggio Calabria (Italia), Krilija Barsa (Russia), KKK Bijelina (BiH) and the host of Sofia
Balkan.The second edition was in 2022, when 6 teams from 5 countries took part in it – 1453 ESK
(Turkey), Aydın G. Efeler (Turkey), ŁTRSN – Łódź(Poland), Mačva BN01 (Serbia), Zmaj Gradačac
(Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the host of Sofia Balkan.
Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) (Partner)
DUTH‘s School of Physical Education and Sports (SPESS) is a leading university department in Greece
in the field of training with specialization in basketball and specialization in adaptive physical education, with the necessary infrastructure and resources to implement such a project, with highly experienced academics in the basketball, in physical education in schools and in adaptive physical education for more than 25 years, with numerous scientific publications related to. Also, the DUTH Polytechnic school with IT experienced experts in programming Information Systems, designing and implementing BasketALL platform and its app, experts who will add more value to the project and lift prevention to a higher digitalized level, yet making it accessible to all, even marginalized, disadvantaged groups. The Democritus University of Thrace has approximately 1,061 academic staff, 27,441 undergraduate and 3,780 postgraduate students.
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