There are 24 hours left until Mengão's debut in the LDB! This Sunday, at 13:30 pm, the Crias da Gávea team will face Bauru at the Pinheiros gymnasium in São Paulo. In Group B, the Mais Querido will also face Rio Claro, Cerrado, Mogi, and the home team in the first stage of the qualifying round.

The largest youth competition in the country, the Basketball Development League is a huge breeding ground for the sport. With athletes up to 22 years old, some of the country's biggest names have already played in the championship, such as Yago Mateus, the "Monstrinho" (Little Monster), and Cristiano Felício, one of the standouts from Flamengo's 2013 double-championship campaign, currently playing in the NBA.

To further develop its youth academy, Mais Querido has partnered with Unifacisa, and athletes from Mengão's U-17 and U-19 teams will wear the Campina Grande, Paraíba, team's jersey in the tournament. The team will be led by Flamengo coach Mauro Macêdo. To prepare for the championship, Flamengo and Unifacisa faced off last Thursday (22) in a friendly match at the Hélio Maurício gymnasium in Gávea. Before the activity, Marcelo Vido, Executive Director of Olympic Sports and former Brazilian basketball team athlete, spoke with the players.

"It's a huge opportunity for the boys, both U-19 and U-22. If you look at the competition's history, we have some athletes who came up through the LDB who are now in the NBA, so it's perhaps the best program in the National Basketball League, which is player development so that, in the near future, we have more high-level athletes playing in the NBB," explained the director.

Flamengo manager Rodrigo Leonardo spoke about the pursuit of a third championship and the importance of the competition and the partnership with the Paraíba team for the development of the club's young players.

"We're going to fight for the title, but we'll never have easy games; the LDB is a very competitive league. And it's a really cool part to face a colleague," the coach continued. "It's a huge gain for both of us, knowing that there aren't 12 players this year, but 24 developing at Flamengo, and all 24 trying to win the title. So it's important for me, for Mauro, and wonderful for the club, which is often criticized for being a high-level team, at the top, but it's a team that also looks after its young players. This is essential for us."

Flamengo will be represented in the LDB by point guards Joãozinho, Matheusinho and Cris; shooting guards Magno, Camargo, Marlon and Dilber; forward Lucas; power forwards Rachel and Ruan; and centers Maciel and Emanuel.

The basketball teams of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo rely on resources from their sponsors – BRB, MOSS, 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).