Trasmapi Illa de Formentera tournament gets 500 basketball players on the court

Yesterday at the Antoni Blanc Sports Centre, details were unveiled regarding the third year of the Trasmapi Illa de Formentera basketball tournament. A yearly competition scheduled to return to the courts of the Sant Francesc sports centre 3 September, officials explained that games would be held every morning from nine to ten am, with finals scheduled for 7 September.

A presentation with details about the five-day affair was led by Sergio Jiménez, Formentera's councillor of Sport; Jordi Duart, director of Club Bàsquet Formentera and Nuria de la Torre, head of marketing at Trasmapi, the company sponsoring the event.

Councillor Jiménez underscored the importance of the tournament's growth from 2013 to 2014 – “Last year's competition brought some 250 players to the island,” explained Jiménez, “this year we are expecting 500. The increase is due in large part to a change in scheduling for the event. Previous editions of the tournament were held in June and July when some of the best teams were either still finishing their seasons, scheduled to compete in some of the other more historically popular tournaments, or getting ready to go on holiday. The new date in September repositions the Trasmapi Illa de Formentera tournament as a pre-season event, something much more attractive for the teams that must travel a long way to get here.”

Jordi Duart spoke about the increased “quantity and quality of teams coming to the Formentera tournament. This year we have teams that hail from Madrid, Zamora, València, Badalona, Mallorca and Menorca.” The event's organiser highlighted “the investment being made in women's basketball, which needs a little encouragement. Mens' basketball categories have had more years to become established.”

Nuria de la Torre noted that she was “thrilled to continue working with Formentera sports teams and extremely pleased with the continued growth of the event.”

The tournament encompasses the categories of 'mini' (for players 10 to 11 years old), 'infantil' (12 to 13), 'cadet' (14 to 15) and 'junior' (16 to 17). Five hundred players from fifteen different clubs – Formentera included – will go head to head in a total of 51 competitive matches.