The European Youth Basketball League (EYBL) is an international youth competition series of basketball in Europe that has already a long, 25-year old history. The Athlete Plus Veszprém team started the competition this season. The team of Veszprém belongs to the southern region of the EYBL. Its center can be found in Budapest, and it brings together 1,950 players from 162 teams of 24 countries.
Such NBA stars as Kristaps Porzingis, Jonas Valanciunas or Lauri Markkanen have already appeared in this league, but quite a few young basketball players who can be linked here were selected in last year’s and this year’s NBA draft.
This season, Veszprém City became one of the hosts of the U20 tournaments organized in various European locations, where, in addition to the Budapest (Hungarian) teams, teams from the following countries come: Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and Slovakia.
The U20 tournament on Veszprém stage will be held between November 30 and December 3 in the sports hall of Vetési Albert Gimnázium.
We asked Miklós Naményi, the CEO of Athlete Plus Veszprém to share his thoughts about this tournament and what the EYBL and Veszprém City can give each other during these four days.
At first, Mr. Naményi gave a short summary about the EYBL:
“The European Youth Basketball League is a 25-year-old initiative, which was first organized for the youth teams of the Baltic countries and Russia, and then it grew into a series with the participation of nearly 200 European teams in 5 age groups, taking place in 25 countries. Now in this series, one of the new hosts will be Veszprém, whose U20 team participates in an international competition for the first time thanks to the collaboration with Athlete Plus.”
He highlighted the significance of the participation for the youngsters in Veszprém:
“In the life of a young basketball player, there is very rarely an opportunity to show his skills and compete against foreign teams. One of the main goals of our participation in EYBL was to give our students this opportunity. Another important aspect is that we would like to start the competition of the Athlete Plus Veszprém international academy, which is currently being built.”
And what can give the entities to each other? He also emphasized these aspects, too:
“At the tournament in Veszprém, 9 teams from 6 countries (Great Britain, Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary), with a total of 100 players and 30 sports leaders and coaches, will play 18 matches in 4 days at Vetési Albert Gimnázium and visit the Cultural Capital of Europe 2023. The most important thing for us is to gain experience, to be able to improve based on it, moreover we want to put Veszprém on the map of international basketball, and last but not least, we bring here a slice of international youth basketball for the fans of the 72-year-old Veszprém basketball community. I hope that many people will be interested in the tournament during the four days!”
And what is the program of these 4 days? Just check the schedule below and visit the games, enjoy the international youth basketball and support the team of Athlete Plus Veszprém!
If you cannot come, you will be able to watch all the games thanks to the live streams on the Athlete+ YouTube channel!
November 30, Thursday
18:00: Athlete+ Veszprém (HUN) vs. Patrioti SBK Junior Levice (SVK)
20:00: EMTV Hamburg (GER) vs Moulton College (GBR)
December 1, Friday
9:00: Athlete+ Veszprém (HUN) vs. Vienna United (AUT)
10:45: Opening ceremony
11:30: Hot Pepper (NED) vs. Budapest Prep Academy (HUN)
13:30: Budapest Honvéd (HUN) vs. EMTV Hamburg (GER)
15:30: Patrioti SBK Junior Levice (SVK) vs. TSE Basket (HUN)
17:30: Moulton College (GBR) vs. Budapest Prep Academy (HUN)
19:30: Vienna United (AUT) vs. Hot Pepper (NED)
December 2, Saturday
9:00: TSE Basket (HUN) vs. Moulton College (GBR)
11:00: Patrioti SBK Junior Levice (SVK) vs. EMTV Hamburg (GER)
13:00: Budapest Honvéd (HUN) vs. Hot Pepper (NED)
15:00: TSE Basket (HUN) vs. Vienna United (AUT)
17:00: EMTV Hamburg (GER) vs. Athlete+ Veszprém (HUN)
19:00: Moulton College (GBR) vs. Budapest Honvéd (HUN)
December 3, Sunday
9:00: Vienna United (AUT) vs. Budapest Prep Academy (HUN)
11:00: TSE Basket (HUN) vs. Hot Pepper (NED)
13:00: Patrioti SBK Junior Levice (SVK) vs. Budapest Honvéd (HUN)
15:00: Budapest Prep Academy (HUN) vs. Athlete+ Veszprém (HUN)
17:00: Closing ceremony