¨Basketball is not dead¨ say college players

Around 500 spectators implicitly sent a wake-up call to the university authorities to be more empathic with sports and to erase once and for all that label that qualifies them as “athletic cemeteries”.

By filling the Julio Abad Coliseum, from the University of Cuenca, they showed the interest of young people in supporting and practicing sports, especially basketball. The stage was small given the interest there was in witnessing the finals of the Interuniversity Tournament organized by the Pedagogy of Physical Activity and Sports Career of the Faculty of Philosophy.

After four intense hours of play -with its regulatory breaks-, the University of Azuay was proclaimed champion in women and men under the technical direction of the brothers Xavier and Andrés Espinoza, respectively. In the finals they beat the hosts.

"Basketball is not dead here, we have to reactivate ourselves, the important thing is that the universities get involved with the sport," says Andrés, who competed with a team that has been working for four years and represents the province in the National League with the Club Triple E. "If we don't follow processes, there are no sports results," he adds.

Damián Quezada, DT of the State, maintains that his team worked less than a month after making a call. “We hope that the authorities motivate and there is a budget for the academy and make the compulsory years that are no longer so valid here within the academic regime. It was interesting that there is that situation to be able to make a club”. (BST)-(D)