Shortly after the start of the current basketball championship, the main tools that allow you to practice the most popular discipline in these parts were changed at the sports hall in Varese: baskets. And by baskets we mean not only the red metal circles where the ball is passed to mark the points, but also the whole structure complete with backboard, floor lamp and base.
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The discarded baskets are the same ones that in 1999 were used by Carlo Recalcati’s Roosters to win the tenth championship of Varese Basketball, that of the star. After their replacement they remained parked for some time outside the Masnago building but now they have found a new and very noble location.
The Municipality of Varese has in fact decided to have them set up inside the gym in via XXV Aprile, the one also known by the ancient name of “firemen’s gym”, which is a real monument of city and Italian basketball. That was in fact the first field used by Varese Basketball: there Ignis won the first two championships before moving – in 1964 – to the then futuristic “Lino Oldrini” sports hall in Masnago, today Enerxenia Arena. In more recent times, the legendary Kobe Bryant also set foot on that pitch when, at a very young age, he shot a commercial spot.
The gym in via XXV Aprile, used by schools and smaller companies, was recently renovated by Palazzo Estense as part of a “public-private” project aimed at redeveloping some sports facilities (the same thing happened to “Falaschi” of Valle Olona “). And planting the baskets-symbol of an era closer to us in that place is a good sign of attention to an epic – that of Varese basketball – which has passed the beautiful milestone of 70 years.