Chronis: “Nikos Pappas” parade is excellent, an opportunity to promote wheelchair basketball”

The Panathinaikos wheelchair basketball team has had an elite new signing for a few days. Nico’s papa. The Panathinaikos Guard initiated all the necessary procedures for the issuance of a card, which became a reality on Monday, February 20, the amateur officially said.

His step is mainly symbolic, but not only. And that’s because it’s not out of the question that we’ll see him actively taking part in division games in the near future in a bid to hold onto the scepters he won in the league and cup last year.

On the occasion of the change of his team, the coach of the Panathinaikos wheelchair basketball team, Kostas Chronis, spoke to Sportish and explained how this partnership came about, but also how Panathinaikos works in this area.

What he said in detail:

– How is the daily life of the team?

“The daily life of the team is in no way different from that of the rest of the national categories. We train five to six times a week in the Melissia hall. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Municipality of Penteli and the management of KAO Melissia because this year they are hosting in the wonderful closed spaces and they have embraced us from the first moment.This is how the team trains on the field, in the gym and travels quite often as the matches for the league and cup are all over Greece”.

– What progress has been made in recent years?

“Panathinaikos started its journey in 2019 from A2. But we took quick steps and immediately found ourselves in A1, where we won the double in our first actual participation – after the pandemic disruption. We have set ourselves high goals again this year. But given the fact, the championship is much more difficult than last year because the competition has increased and our opponents are very strong. At Panathinaikos we’re always trying to find ways to improve, so we’re going to take part in a tournament in Murtia in April. organized for new teams from Europe. There we will meet four teams from Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Great Britain”.

– What goals have been set?

“The clear goal is to keep the scepters and stay at the top of Greece, but at the same time have a decent course and presence in Europe. The bad thing is that the championship in Greece is quite low compared to what is happening in Europe. In addition, the federation only allows two foreign players per team, so there is no possibility for transfers that only take part in European competitions include. Spain, for example, admits five or six players from abroad because that’s where the championship is held “professional”.

– How did the contact and integration of Nikos Pappas into the team come about?

“Nikos was closely associated with the team from the first moment, from the first steps we took as OAKA’s assistant assistant. He sat on the bench in most A2 games and watched our games closely. In fact, we were in the promotion finals played although I know he was on vacation he just came back to watch the game, in general he helped a lot in various ways which to his credit he doesn’t want them to go out and we fully respect that . He now has personal relationships with the guys on the team and is present at most of the group’s events.”

– Does the program offer the possibility to participate in one of this year’s games?

“Hopefully his work commitments will help us and help us with some games. In general, it’s difficult even for an athlete to play basketball in a wheelchair and reach a high level to be able to play competitive games. That’s because dealing with the Wheelchair such is a complex process that requires several months or even years of training to be fully familiar”.

– How easy is it for someone who has no contact with the specific sport to be able to play?

“The most important thing is handling the wheelchair and then the process of touching the ball, passing it, shooting it. Of course, for someone who has played professionally at Nikos level, everything will go much faster, so we’re happy to have him at to have us.” have us close. But the greatest thing is the symbolism of the movement he made, as it is an excellent advertisement for sport and sport with disabilities in general.