Oscar da Silva i James Nnaji con los cinco jóvenes fueron a visitarlos al Palau Blaugrana

The meeting came about as part of Euroleague Basketball’s corporate social responsibility program ‘One Team’ which, in the case of FC Barcelona and its Foundation, is aiming to support the social reintegration of young prisoners

On 24 January this year, five inmates from the Catalonia Juvenile Detention Centre experienced a very special day thanks to Euroleague Basketball’s ‘One Team’ social project, which the FC Barcelona Foundation is carrying out alongside the club’s basketball division. The five young people were hosted at the Palau Blaugrana sports venue by FC Barcelona’s two ambassadors for this project: men’s first-team players Oscar da Silva and James Nnaji. What is more, they were able to attend a training session and experience the FC Barcelona Immersive Museum Tour.

In FC Barcelona’s case, the ‘One Team’ project is held weekly at the Catalonia Juvenile Detention Centre, using basketball as a tool to promote the personal and community development of the group of young people involved and smooth their social reintegration. 
During the weekly two-hour sessions, an FC Barcelona Foundation social instructor carries out a range of activities with the inmates, using basketball as a integrating and inclusive tool, which also encourages those values that help cultivate the personal and social side of each individual. These values include confidence, empathy, self-esteem, cooperation and respect, and form the central concept of the Foundation’s own SportNet socio-educational methodology.

Over the course of the season, the young residents receive several visits from Barça players from both the men’s and women’s first-team basketball squads and ambassadors from the ‘One Team’ project, who also participate in sport and movement sessions held at the Detention Centre. For their part, the young people visit FC Barcelona’s facilities and have the chance to enjoy a day out with a difference, in close contact with the club’s basketball division.

Euroleague Basketball launched its ‘One Team’ project in the 2011/12 season, with the aim of encouraging the various clubs involved in the highest-level continental competition to carry out social initiatives, in order to use the power of basketball as a life-changing tool.