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Areas Social action Sports A nod to basketball’s local proponents

A nod to basketball’s local proponents

homenatge-ba--squet--3-2In celebration of Emilio Martínez and Toni Terrasa —two men considered the original pioneers of local basketball in the eighties— Formentera’s department of sport has announced that two new basketball hoops have been put up in children’s parks in La Savina and next to Marc Ferrer high school in Sant Francesc.

‘Hoops in the street’ is the name of an initiative backed by the Balearic Islands Federation of Basketball (FEBIB) and their foundation, FEBIB 1935, with support from Trasmapi Formentera basketball club and the Formentera government. The hoops were donated by Hotels Sirenis and feature a plaque commemorating the two players.

Sports councillor Paula Ferrer remarked on the two men’s “crucial work in the 1980s, when the resources to practice the sport were a long way from what we’re used to today”. Ferrer hailed the efforts of FEBIB 1935 as critical, adding: “I hope the whole island enjoys these two basketball hoops”.

 The spearhead of another project known as ‘Hoops from the past’, FEBIB 1935 chair Jacinto Real says ‘Hoops in the street’ “is about reclaiming our story and tying it to the present, so we can protect the future of basketball in the islands”. First vice-president Ana Juan and citizen participation councillor Vanessa Parellada were also at the event, along with families and friends of Martínez and Terrasa.

League play and summer camp
Three decades ago, Martínez and Terrasa’s support of the sport took the form of summer camps and a local league—two wildly successful initiatives among local athletes (the league eventually grew to encompass more than ten men’s and women’s teams).

The two men were honoured by FEBIB 1935 at last year’s closing ceremonies for the island’s first-ever basketball summer camp. FEBIB 1935 has also put out a short film that traces the history of Formentera basketball through the accounts of some of its pioneers. FEBIB 1935 joined forces with the Miraprim production team and put out similar films across the archipelago.


24 January 2020
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

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