CLUB

Our program’s vision is about balancing social, environmental, and economic values into the core strategy of the Club.

We focus on enhancing long-term social and environmental sustainability by supporting responsible initiatives.

In cooperation with our partners, we are committed to constantly seeking ways to support the society and create a positive impact.

In the following presentation, we present all the activations that the Club organized during the season 2022-23.

ONE TEAM Euroleague Basketball CSR Program

#WeAreAllOneTeam

For the 9^th consecutive year, PAO BC participated in the Euroleague Basketball CSR Program ONE TEAM.

For the season 2022-23, the main social issue we addressed was Intellectual Disability, and we were thrilled to partner up once again with Special Olympics Hellas.

Our program launched in October 2022 and was completed in March 2023.

The training sessions conducted at the OAKA Indoor Training Hall, and our main criterion was the easy access of the athletes.

One of our goals was to surround the program with two coaches specialized on kids under the spectrum of autism.

Moreover, volunteer coaches from Special Olympics Hellas had a major role on our program.

Our coaches were a key performance indicator for the program, since they helped the participants to socialize through basketball and meet the values we set.

Our 13 weekly sessions focused on different aspects, and we used basketball drills as a way for the participants to understand the values that were introduced to them.

Our participants got to know the importance of team building, diversity, self-esteem, confidence, ambitions, commitment, decision making, motivation, equality, discipline, personal responsibility, sense of community, communication, and friendship.

Our players Paris Lee and Derrick Williams joined their forces to become PAO BC ONE TEAM Ambassadors.

International Volunteers Day – December 5, 2022

On December 5^th, we organized an interactive event with our ONE TEAM participants, in order to introduce and discuss the importance of volunteering and the meaningfulness of giving back to others. Our ONE TEAM Head Coach presented the benefits of volunteering and answered to a series of questions that children posed.

Christmas Visits – December 2022

One of the values we will aways stand for is to give back to the community and people in need. During the festive days of Christmas, all the organization wants and gives its 100% to make children smile. In December 2022, players, staff, and management had the chance to visit both SOS Children’s Villages and “MITERA” Children’s Hospital and share Christmas gifts!

SOS Children’s Villages

Players, coaching staff, and top tier management of the Club had the chance to visit the SOS Children’s Village at Vari, Attica and our young friends welcomed us and gave us a tour of their facilities.

After offering everyone their Christmas gifts, our athletes had the chance to play basketball, discuss and take pictures with the kids, creating moments that will last forever!

As Mr. Vassilis Parthenopoulos, President of PAO BC, mentioned:
“It was a unique experience, we will always cherish.”

“MITERA” Children’s Hospital

For one more year, PAO BC athletes stood by the side of children in real need. A few days before the New Year’s Eve, Giorgos Papagiannis, Dwayne Bacon, Paris Lee and Lefteris Bochoridis, as much as the management of the Club visited “MITERA” Children’s Hospital and spread joy. On these festive days, we had the chance to talk with the kids and their parents, take pictures and offer them their Christmas gifts. The reward of their smiles once again was priceless.

Block the Violence Initiative, presented by PAO BC

Considering the elimination of violence of all forms to be mandatory, for the second consecutive year, we implemented two activities under the umbrella of the “Block the Violence” Initiative of the Club in order to raise awareness spread the message both to our fans and the PAO BC Academy members.

More specifically, we focused on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, as well as, the International Day against School Violence and Bullying.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – November 25, 2022

On our home game vs Partizan Belgrade all the video and photo material that was produced for the Venue’s jumbotron, was dedicated to promote the importance of the elimination of violence against women and girls.

International Day against School Violence and Bullying – March 6, 2023

One of our core values is to educate young minds. For that reason, for the International Day against School Violence and Bullying, PAO BC Academy athletes had the chance to discuss the issue with our Club’s psychologist and sent their own message in their effort to eliminate the phenomenon.

PAO BC stands by the earthquake victims of Turkey and Syria

On Monday February 6^th, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria. More than 51000 people lost their lives with thousand more injured.

In cooperation with the Hellenic Red Cross everyone in the club, including our fans, and PAO BC Academy actively participated in the effort to collect humanitarian material to be sent to the victims who lost their homes and livelihoods.

More specifically, during our home Euroleague game vs Valencia Basket
(February 10^th) and our Basket League game vs Promitheas Patras (February 13^th), hygiene items, first aid & healthcare items, blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothing were collected on our venue and were sent to those affected by the devastating earthquake.

Everyone’s correspondence was truly heartwarming.

Moreover, in cooperation with ESAKE, PAO BC participated in a campaign where every point that the team scored vs Promitheas Patras was converted to a financial support for the victims.

PAO BC stands by the victims’ families of the devastating train crash at Tempi

On Tuesday February 28^th, a head-on collision occurred between two trains in the Thessaly region. The collision killed at least 57 people and many injured. Following the 3 days period of mourning with all the events to have been postponed, we decided to send a message and declare our deepest condolences to the victims and their families. Therefore, we created custom made black jerseys for our home game vs Karditsa in the beginning of March 2023.

Inclusive Basketball Session with the participation of Special Olympics Hellas & PAO BC Academy U16 athletes

For the first time, in cooperation with Special Olympics Hellas and PAO BC Academy, we organized at the OAKA Indoor Hall Training Facilities an inclusive training session, with the participation of both typical and non-typical athletes.

Our goal was to promote the importance of a society where everyone is equal and feels included, regardless his special characteristics or abilities.

Typical and non-typical young athletes had the chance to interact, play basketball, share their thoughts, and send a strong, common message that everyone is unique and equal.

Through this special training session, we wanted to give all the participants a different perspective and help them create a mindset where everyone is valuable.

World Autism Awareness Day - April 2, 2023

In cooperation with PAO BC Academy and our grand sponsor OPAP, we decided to organize a two-day event, dedicated to the World Autism Awareness Day.  

The event’s purpose was to raise awareness and inform all our Academy’s members and their parents so that they can recognize, understand, and accept diversity & uniqueness of children under the autism spectrum. In that way, their inclusion to every aspect of the society should not be challenging at all.

Interactive speeches, inclusive basketball sessions, fun activations, and Q+A sessions, conducted by the scientific staff and partners of PAO BC Academy, were some of the happenings during the two-day event.

The event was completed with the participation of all typical and non-typical athletes of PAO BC Academy, on our home game vs Apollon Patras. All kids together, wearing the campaign’s T-shirt enjoyed the game and were part of all the on court activations, during the pregame shoot around and halftime. 

Our players and Head Coach participated also in the activations, creating a unique puzzle dedicated to the World Autism Awareness Day.

Voluntary Blood Donation for PAO BC fans at OAKA - Basket League | R21

The blood we give is a lifeline in an emergency and for people who need long-term treatments.

For one more year, the Club wanted to contribute, as the need for blood is constant.
With the invaluable support of Evangelismos Hospital, on our home game vs Apollon Patras, we organized a voluntary blood donation at OAKA and once again, the “green fans” were there to embrace our initiative.

High attendance and a solidarity wave that was truly overwhelming.
Seeing our fans supporting these initiatives makes us stronger and more eager to constantly give back in every way possible.

International Children’s Book Day - April 2, 2023

One of the main goals of the Organization is to continuously contribute to the society and people who are in need.

Therefore, for the International Children’s Book Day, we launched a campaign that was activated on 5 home games, in order to collect children’s books, literature and educational games and help on the enhancement of the Children’s Library of Metsovo, part of the Baron Michael Tossizza foundation.

Our fans’ correspondence was great, as more than 200 books and educational games were sent to the library. The campaign was actively supported by PAO BC Academy and the Club’s employees.

“We the Greens” go GREEN!

Focusing on sustainability and the reduction of plastic consumption on our venue, season 2022-2023 was a turning point.

In cooperation with our partner VIVA Wallet, we decided to stop using plastic cups on our home games and for the first time, we introduced on our VIP Lounge, the ecofriendly paper cups.

During the season, our VIP fans had the chance to enjoy their drinks on these recyclable paper cups and actively participate on our effort to protect the environment.

Aiming to leave our “green footprint” on the planet, in the upcoming season, we intend to increase the number of paper cups on all gates/bars.