Around noon, the Viedma-Patagones headquarters for the new season of the Argentine Basketball League was officially announced, with Deportivo Viedma and Atenas at the helm to represent the region.
The event took place in the Plaza Seca in the Rio Negro capital, and was chaired by the mayors of Viedma and Patagones, Pedro Pesatti and José Zara, respectively, along with the presidents of both clubs, Fernando Casadei (Depo Viedma) and Juan Cruz Montoto (Athens). Different municipal and provincial officials were present.
The tournament will have its starting point on Friday, February 19. The games will be played on the 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd and 25th of the same month.
In addition, if the public is finally allowed to enter the matches, the Ángel Cayetano Arias sports center could host the Depo and Atenas matches.
The clubs that will participate in the South-Patagonian area –in addition to the two local teams– will be Del Progreso (Gral. Roca), Villa Miter (Bahía Blanca), Quilmes (Mar del Plata), Estudiantes (Olavarría) and Ciclistas (Junín) .
The three remaining venues, which will also host the other areas of the Argentine Basketball League, are Santa Fe, Córdoba and Buenos Aires.
The president of Deportivo Viedma, Fernando Casadei, was optimistic and said: “We are very happy to have managed this for the region. We believe that the spectacle that we have and that has been consolidated in the second category of Argentine basketball, is one of the main sporting assets that the city has. It is a responsibility of us that we conserve it, take care of it and that we create the context for that ”.
He added: “That people from all over the country visit us and know what basketball means to us, is a great satisfaction for us.”
In addition, he announced that the matches played in the region will be televised by streaming.
For his part, the president of Athens, Juan Cruz Montoto, indicated that “it is an enormous joy and we take it as a great commitment.” He also thanked “the support of the mayors, José Luis Zara and Pedro Pesatti. We have been talking about this for a long time and they made everything we requested available to us ”.
“That they have chosen us along with other important cities, shows that both at the leadership level and at the health level we were up to the task,” he said.
The local mayor, Pedro Pesatti, stressed the need to have “this type of events in the area”, and that “the possibility of the matches being broadcast will give us the significance that we all seek: that the region can be known through of sports, throughout the country ”.
The calendar
Friday 19: Del Progreso – Quilmes MDP; Deportivo Viedma – Students from Olavarría; Cyclist – Villa Miter.
Saturday 20: Quilmes MDP – Deportivo Viedma; Students from Olavarría – Athens; Cyclist – Villa Miter.
Monday 22: Athens – Quilmes MDP; Villa Miter – Students of Olavarría; Del Progreso – Cyclist.
Tuesday 23: Quilmes MDP – Villa Miter; Students from Olavarría – Del Progreso; Cyclist – Deportivo Viedma.
Thursday 25: Quilmes MDP – Students of Olavarría; Villa Miter – Deportivo Viedma; Athens – Del Progreso.