LAKTASI (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - The Youth Basketball Champions League is only growing and developing, both on and off the court.
With Season 4 in here in Laktasi, Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have seen the level of talent increase on the court, and as a result, so has the attention on these teams and players.
Away from the court, the Basketball Champions League, in cooperation with FIBA, also organizes a Players Workshop every year.
The goal of these workshops is to give these young athletes invaluable access to mentoring and advice from retired professional players who have already lived the dream they are chasing.
This year included presentations from Spain legend and the President of FIBA Europe, Jorge Garbajosa, alongside NBA Star, Pero Antic.
There was also a section of the curriculum dedicated to building an athlete's brand away from the court with Benjamin Gauthier, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer of the Basketball Champions League.
The final element of the workshop included tools and resources provided by FIBA on anti-doping and match-fixing prevention, presented by Nejat Haciomeroglu.
For Season 4 here in Laktasi, the teams enjoyed access to a figure in Pero Antic, who has lived the career that many of them dream of.
Antic's experience as a player and administrator also puts him in a unique position to really understand what the next generation of players in Europe needs to hear.
For Antic, the key message of the workshop and this entire tournament boils down to enjoyment.
"The main message is to enjoy it, to have fun," he said.
"First of all, fun is the first relative of fundamentals, to meet new players, to have challenges," Antic offered.
He continued to explain that an event like this also reflects the way these young athletes can learn to deal with life in general, not just on the court.
"In life, not everything is always gonna go your way. Maybe you’re not going to score today, but you can play defense, you cannot let yourself down," Antic stated.
To experience a youth event with all the professional organization of a senior event is not something that existed when Antic was still developing as a young player at the start of his career, and for Antic, these players must understand the value of what they are getting access to.
"You know it was not even close when I was a young player," he recalled.
"The kids have to be happy with a full organization like this."
"They have a glimpse of exactly how it feels. They have exactly the same conditions like the main event gets. And again, I would say they have to appreciate it and use it in the right way to get a great experience out of this," Antic concluded.
For Benjamin Gauthier, this event and the workshop presented an invaluable opportunity to level up future generations with the skills they need to succeed themselves and also play their role in building the game off the court.
"This workshop is an important opportunity to engage with them beyond the game and offer guidance not only as developing athletes, but as individuals who are increasingly visible to the public," Gauthier explained.
For some of these players, this event will be the most cameras they have performed in front and their first experience of interacting with the media.
At an event like this, a player's activity on social media can no longer be a personal activity; it has to become a professional activity.
"One key message I wanted to convey is that who they are, and how they behave truly matters. An athlete’s name or 'brand' carries meaning, and every interview or social media post contributes to that image. Social media is a powerful tool, but it requires awareness and responsibility, as its impact can be long-lasting," Gauthier said.