Bulgaria win U14 Slovenia Ball girls’ title

Bulgaria won the U14 Slovenia Ball for Girls title, team coach Teodora Petrova said on Wednesday, CE Report quotes BTA.

“The joy is visible in the girls’ eyes. They believed in us, the coaches, but, more importantly, they believed in themselves and never stopped working from the first day of camp through to the final. I competed at Slovenia Ball with the 2009 age group. It is a very prestigious tournament featuring strong, carefully selected teams, and I secretly dreamed of returning one day. That happened in the best possible way, but nothing happens by chance. The pride and emotion are immense, but our work with this team is only beginning. I thank Radomir Stoyanov for his support and teamwork,” Petrova told the Bulgarian Basketball Federation’s official website.

“There is no single key to success. This is a very talented generation. I think this team, or rather this age group, includes many talented girls who, with the right training, could play professional basketball at a high level. I also believe that most of them have set this as their goal! Given the girls’ abilities, I expected the team to perform well. Preparation time was extremely limited, and all we could do was instil in them what was required. The tournament is extremely well organized and resembles a mini European Championship for this age group. In reality, there is nowhere else these children can face so many evenly matched opponents. The teams were exceptionally tall, although this is not unique to this age group. The girls came up against much bigger opponents, which changes everything when finishing around the basket, so there were bound to be missed shots,” Petrova said. She joined CSKA in late July, returning to the club with which she won the women’s Adriatic League trophy in the 2006/2007 season.

She will be involved in developing CSKA’s women’s programme, working to build and develop the club’s girls’ teams.

Photo: CSKA Basketball Club