Completing two years at the helm of FlaBasquete, Diego Jeleilate was the guest on Virtual Chat this Friday (05). The red-black manager spoke about the beginning of his career, the greatness of Flamengo, the reformulation of the youth categories and other topics. Check out some excerpts below:

Early career
"Actually, I was a fitness coach for 14 years, both at Paulistano and with the Brazilian national team. In the last three years with the São Paulo team, I began to take on more responsibility for team management. So, all the strategic planning fell under my responsibility, including hiring, squad building, and the club's financial control. During my penultimate season at the club, I brought in another fitness coach because I felt I was neglecting fitness training and dedicating myself much more to management. I also decided to further my training and study this area. When the invitation from Flamengo arrived, I was thrilled because it was what I had been preparing for over the past few years. Dedicating myself solely and exclusively to a club as great as the Mais Querido has been very positive."

Learning at Flamengo
"It was certainly discovering the greatness of the club, in all dimensions, including the personal and historical aspects, as well as the professional approach to managing the sport. Our board is very organized, with a defined long-term strategic plan, where we have high-level discussions on management, and we also have wonderful people in the vice-presidencies. So I believe the greatest lesson is yet to come, because it's a constant learning experience, a very special experience, as it's a club that aims for the greatest possible achievements as an institution, and that dazzles everyone."

Biggest challenges at Rubro-Negro
"The challenges are daily, and we don't have complete control when dealing with people. I think the main one is the restructuring of the youth teams, because Flamengo, being a very strong team in the adult category, ends up having two distinct projects. For a team that doesn't have a very competitive senior team and wants to develop young players, it's easier to make this career transition. In Flamengo's case, we build a super team in the adult category, and at the same time, we need to pay special attention to the youth athletes. So this is my biggest challenge, and it's actually been quite assertive because we're the current Brazilian U-18 and U-21 champions, in addition to winning practically every state championship since I joined the club. I believe we're on the right track."

Check out the 'Virtual Chat' with Diego Jeleilate in full:

The basketball teams of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo rely on resources from their sponsors – BRB, TIM, AmBev, Rede D'or, IRB Brasil RE, CSN, Brasil Plural, EY – via the Federal Incentive Law/Ministry of Sports (IR) and State Incentive Law/State Secretariat of Sports, Leisure and Youth (Seelje) of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to support from the Brazilian Club Committee (CBC).