The athletes from Mais Querido's U-12 basketball team participated in an international challenge last weekend. Flamengo represented Brazil in the Virtual Basketball Games, which featured seven other teams from Italy, Belgium, Serbia, Switzerland, France, and Argentina. The Flamengo players took part in a unique way, from the comfort of their homes, respecting the social distancing measures imposed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and participated in a series of online activities.

"The Virtual Cup was a great idea from the European coaches. We received the invitation through Igor, our U-13/17 coach, who has contact with other coaches in Italy. We accepted, knowing it would be something that would energize and motivate the U-12 team during this quarantine period. We know that being away from basketball, teammates, and social life at the club is not easy for the kids," explained Vitor Boccardo, the category's coach and one of the red-and-blacks most involved in organizing the event.  

"The experience was incredible! We had the opportunity to reconnect as a team and meet other teams around the world who are going through the same situation as us. During the Virtual Cup, the kids had a lot of fun with various skill challenges, NBA-themed memory games, and other activities. The focus wasn't on competing, but on bringing them joy during this time. Everyone was so happy, and that's priceless," he celebrated.

To promote integration among the participating athletes, the points counted had no value. According to Igor Meletti, coach of the U-13 and U-17 teams, the idea was to aggregate.

"There was going to be a little competition, to see who could do better, but not having one winner with 100 points and another with 2—that wasn't the intention. I thought the project was really cool, in that it not only got the kids thinking and practicing, but also thinking about this form of interaction," said the coach. "The goal of the game was to integrate, to break out of the inertia of home. Even though everyone is teaching online training sessions to the kids, it's different. (...) That was the goal, to also motivate the athletes, especially these younger kids who have a lot of energy and are stuck at home."

For the Coordinator of the sport's Youth Categories, Paulo Chupeta, the invitation was further proof of the Mais Querido's strong image on the international stage. 

"It was an event that highlighted the club's work at the basketball academy and at the Sports School. It involved interaction between several countries, and Flamengo was invited to participate. This is largely due to the club's name and brand, and the performance Flamengo has been delivering in recent years. Today, Flamengo is a benchmark in the Americas," said Chupeta. "We must highly commend Igor's work, along with Vitor Boccardo, who were fantastic in assembling the teams and in the discipline of the kids, which they work on throughout the year. But in this current situation, their organization was truly impressive."

The event began with a group warm-up, followed by various skill challenges, an NBA memory game, and even Battleship matches. The teams divided into chat rooms and took turns facing off against each other, under the supervision of referees from Italy, the country that hosted the competition. Diego Jeleilate, the manager of the Flamengo basketball team, and Fernando Pereira, the assistant coach of the FlaBasquete Senior team, also participated in the activities with the young talents of Mais Querido.

The Italian team from Granda College Cuneo hosted the virtual event. Besides Mais Querido, the teams Labenne Basket (France), CAA Tres Arroyos (Argentina), Estudiantil Porteño (Argentina), Kortrijk Spurs (Belgium), Young Boys Satbio (Switzerland), and SC Foka (Serbia) also participated.