A special One Team Global Ambassador Award has been given to veteran Kyle Hines of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan during the EuroLeague ELPA Players Representatives Meeting on Monday at league headquarters in Barcelona.
Ever since he first became involved with One Team back in 2012, the inaugural year of Euroleague Basketball’s social responsibility program, Hines has displayed all the qualities that align with the One Team pedagogy. His involvement and dedication to One Team have been comprehensive, as Hines has promoted the program’s values and inspired young people both locally and across the continent in his role as Global Ambassador.
The 2021-22 season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup marked the 10th anniversary for One Team, and the special award for Hines coincided with the EuroLeague Players’ Sustainability Session on Tuesday. The focus of the session as was how players can be relevant voices in support of sustainability. During this discussion, player representatives from all 18 EuroLeague teams learned about Euroleague Basketball’s sustainability educational plan, the ways in which they can act as sustainability advocates, and how Adidas is aiding the efforts of the league in working towards its sustainability goals.
Hines first became a One Team Ambassador for Olympiacos Piraeus in the 2012-13 season and was then named the One Team Global Ambassador in December 2013. Since leaving Olympiacos in 2013, Hines continued his One Team responsibilities while playing for CSKA Moscow and Milan, performing the duties of the One Team Club Ambassador or the One Team Global Ambassador. He also won four EuroLeague titles during his playing career and is one of just three players ever to become champion more than once with each of two different teams.
“I talk to all the guys on our team or other teams about the importance of One Team and having an impact within their communities, what it means not only to the players, but also to the people that are involved and the example that it shows,” Hines said after receiving the award.
“To see the organization, the initiative, the mission continue to grow year after year has been incredible. For me, One Team is my favorite part of the year. I mean, obviously, I’m a basketball player and I love doing all the things on the court. But off the court, to see how much of an impact One Team is continuing to have throughout the communities, throughout all of Europe, it is definitely something special.”
Hines has not only had a positive impact on the communities where he has played but has also taken part in events organized by Euroleague Basketball on a continent-wide basis. Over the years, he has regularly been present for the One Team Games celebrations, in addition to the One Team events that take place during each season’s EuroLeague Final Four, for which he qualified as a player nine times consecutively, a record.
With an innovative model of interconnectedness across an entire continent, Euroleague Basketball and its clubs have developed a complete CSR program that brings together activities from each team in an integrated, impactful way, working under the theme of “community integration” that actively addresses targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 on Reduced Inequalities, among others. Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has reached already, directly and indirectly, more than 24,000 participants through its various team projects.
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