The VTB United League and ALROSA are hosting the Nastroenie sports and music festival from December 8-24.
The VTB League is the first sports league to hold master classes beyond the Arctic Circle, with events scheduled in three Yakutia cities: Aikhal, Udachny and Mirny.
The unique partnership between the League and ALROSA will feature 36 basketball master classes, 12 open workshops and 6 exhibition games. More than 3,000 children and adults are expected to participate.
Former national team captain and current Russian national team coach Sergey Bykov is serving as VTB United League ambassador at the festival. In addition to the master classes and talks with Sergey Bykov, organized specially for basketball fans in Yakutia, 24 films about basketball and nutrition will be screened to more than 1,000 people.
The festival will conclude in Mrirny with a performance by the Helikon Opera.
– For me, this trip is my first such experience, – noted Russian national team coach Sergey Bykov. – Here, beyond the Arctic Circle, there are some truly amazing and beautiful places. Even the bitter cold isn’t a problem! The cold outside is balanced by the warmth of the local residents. The people in Yakutia are very kind and welcoming. There are a lot of talented kids here, for whom ALROSA has created wonderful opportunities to play sports. Our mission is to show them the right methods for practicing and infect them with a love for the game. Who knows, maybe some of them will play basketball professionally one day. The kids are giving everything they have at our events.
“Our partnership with sports federations and leagues is about far more than our image. We are looking for new ways to give our employees and their families opportunities to play sports and we’ve set a goal of introducing a culture of healthy living to the residents of the areas where we operate. ALROSA’s sports and culture programs feature more than 170 classes and teams with more than 6,000 thousand participants. Our joint festival with the VTB League has met our expectations of a sports partner, from the participation of famous athletes to high-level master classes to ensuring engagement from our employees and their family members,” said Olga Churakova, head of ALROSA’s marketing special projects division and public relations.
Info:
ALROSA is the leader of the world diamond mining industry. The company engages in the exploration, production and selling of diamonds. ALROSA mines diamonds in the Sakha Republic and Arkhangelsk Oblast, as well as engaging in projects on the African continent. The company produced 37.4 million carats of rough diamonds in 2016 with a revenue of 317.1 billion rubles in 2016.
ALROSA became an official VTB United League partner in the 2017-18 season.
