Young promises are 'Friends' hope in the future

Together, they are nearly four metres tall, and although they are only fourteen years old, these two basketball players already carry on their shoulders a world of hope for the future of the CAB senior team. Pedro Escortius (1.92m) and Tiago Oliveira (1.91m) began a new phase in their sports career this summer. Starting with the Francisco Franco Club and the Porto Santo Basketball Club, the two young people began to wear the Friends' sweater, a club that welcomed them with open arms and is already submitting them to a specific training regime with a view to developing their basketball skills. “I am in the CAB for the seriousness of your project, for the dedication of each member belonging to this project and for the possibilities that this project offers me to evolve as a player and as an individual,” explains Pedro Escorcio. Tiago Oliveira, whose move to the CAB meant changing residence and school, says “I came to the CAB to improve my technique and expertise. I want to evolve as a basketball player and the CAB is the best option for that.” Although they were already opponents when serving their previous training, the two athletes will now be on the same team, fighting for common goals and for a future place in the CAB professional team. “I believe that they have all the conditions to avenge basketball and join, within two or three years, the senior team, but this possibility will only come true if they work with commitment, dedication and objectives,” says Faty Freitas, CAB coordinator and trainer who has been working with athletes under the ‘School of Champions’ project. In a new phase of regional sport, which encourages clubs to look even more closely at their training layers, young Pedro and Tiago are two long-term bets by the club of Nazareth. “We have always been proud to join the senior youth teams trained in our Club. But now that has become even more a necessity. For this reason, we have to help young people like Pedro and Tiago to work harder, to work better and to develop training habits that enable their ancestry to the senior team”, explains João Pedro Vieira, vice president for the sport management of the CAB. After a few days of physical examination, Pedro and Tiago already work at the CAB, and attention to physical preparation and technical improvement have dominated the work sessions. Unlike many of their friends, who take advantage of the hottest temperatures to go to the beach and relax, these two athletes and the other players who are in the ‘School of Champions’ project spend much of their time in the pavilion, trying to improve their skills and gain the right to dream of a place in the elite of national basketball, a dream that is only achieved with much sweat and sacrifice. On this future, Peter and James have clear ideas. “I want to reach a major world league, and because of that, I moved to the CAB, because I know that with all the sweat and work I’m going to give this project, I can become a player with a promising future,” explains young Pedro Escortius, adding that his goals also go through “at least taking a degree in social communication and forming a family”. Of course and pragmatic, Tiago Oliveira has a great ambition that does not hide as to his future in the modality. According to the young athlete, “I want to be one of the best poles at the national level and I also wish to have a higher degree.” In the same tone and with the same confidence, the vice president of the club, João Pedro, believes that the CAB must continue to identify regional talents and bet on their training. “We know that the capture and training of young athletes is a costly, time consuming and uncertain process, as nothing guarantees us that the player A or B get to the senior team. However, I believe that this is the path that the CAB has to follow if it wants to have, in the medium and long term, senior teams formed mostly by Madeirans from our schools.”