Roma, july 2004

It’s a great honour for Italy to put it up the European Championship for Under 16 girls. Italian basketball federation is happy to welcome all the delegations and the teams.
This championship is the first real international test for the europeans girls.
The teams are 16. And it’s the first time that the Under 16 girls, that we called Cadettes until any months ago, will play a championship with 16 teams. It’s an important innovation, that consider the new reality of european basket: it’s a mark of the growth of european basketball.
All the Piedmont, with the help of the regional committee of Italian basketball federation, put up the European Championship. Biella, Novara, Asti, Cuneo are the cities where it will play the qualifying round. The final will be in Turin.
We like how Piedmont is coming back a protagonist of italian basketball. We are happy. In top senior female basketball, last Piedmont team successes they were Scudetto and Champions Cup of Fiat-Teksid Turin 25 years ago. We like to think to this European championship as a double goal for italian and regional female basketball: a mark to hit and a start for the future.
European championship for Under 16 girls will represent an important test. We will look at the young talents of many nations. Many italian top players, now stars in Serie A and with the national team, played and won medals in European juvenile championship. We like to think that our female basketball will be strengthened by the players that will be protagonists of these Championships.
And as member of Fiba Board I’m happy that European Championship for Under 16 girls 2004 are organized in Italy. I’m persuaded that memory of this event will be unforgettable in the minds of the young athletes. I’m also sure that the matches will be played in respect of fair play.
I wish you a good European championship.

Fausto Maifredi

President of Italian Basketball Federation