From March 10th to 12th, Flamengo's youth basketball team will host its first competition of the year. Boys born in 2000 and 2001 (Under-17 category) will embark on a friendly quadrangular in Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo. In addition to Flamengo and the home team, teams from Taubaté and São José dos Campos will also be on the court. Twelve athletes from the team will be part of the squad led by coach Marcos Mendes, known as Beegu, who is planning to host the boys from Gávea at the João Carlos de Oliveira Sports Center (João do Pulo).

 

"It's going to be a strong, good, very interesting tournament for the U-17 boys. It's always good to play away from home, especially in São Paulo, which has a very strong basketball school. It'll be good for the boys to get to know each other better on the court. From my team last year, I only kept four athletes; everyone else left. I brought in five athletes from outside, and picked up others who came up from the U-15s," says Beegu.

 

Regarding the season, the coach expects it to be busy.

 

"This quadrangular in Pindamonhangaba will be very good, but I hope we have others ahead, because the Rio de Janeiro championship alone isn't enough. We need more competitions for these boys to gain more experience and develop their best basketball skills," concludes Flamengo's U-17 coach.