Coach Martino, two roles and a secret: “The love of basketball is the main ingredient”.

Coach of the Basketball Promozione Team and Team Manager of Basketball B league, Andrea Martino is one of the souls of the basketball area in Luiss. The two roles he holds see him fully engaged in the management of our students in love with the orange ball. His long experience has led him to unravel professionally in the shoes of both figures, while his words are a source of inspiration for anyone who is passionate about sport.

Mister, you are a rare example of sporting self-denial. Where does this great passion for basketball come from?

Since I was a child, I have always lived on basketball. I started playing when I was 6 and until I was 18 I never stopped. Then I started with training courses and graduated in pedagogy, with a master degree in sports psychology. I’ve always been in contact with coaches and athletes, also as an educator because I was responsible for groups of less fortunate boys, like autistic boys. This is my training path in basketball, which I have always tried to carry out with attention and professionalism, but especially with love. Without love there is no fun. Love is the main ingredient.

Coach and Team Manager: in which of the two roles do you feel most comfortable and how do they differ mainly?

Maybe right now I’m more attached to the role of Team Manager, but I remain a “court lion”. I try to play the two roles professionally, because they are very important for the good of the team and of individuals. To feel comfortable, you have to make a serious effort and by doing so, I feel part of both projects. Maybe as a Team Manager at the moment I feel a bit more involved, because the role is H24, 7 days a week, always supporting the group and it doesn’t end technically.

How are the two groups you are involved with going?

They’re both very good. Basketball B league, with a new group, has already won the playoffs five days in advance. Basketball Promozione has also reached the playoffs and at the end of March we will play a new phase to enter the D Series. It won’t be easy but if we give our all in all games, I think it’s an achievable goal.

What are the seasonal goals of the two groups?

With B league we want to reach the final stages of the playoffs, like last year. It’s not a foregone conclusion, because every year the group changes and it’s not easy to manage from a technical point of view. The staff were good at that. In the playoffs we’ll meet teams with budgets and financial resources greater than Luiss, but our project is important and we’ll give everyone a hard time. With the Promotion we have to give our all. I repeat: if you train well and play as you do, the goals become achievable.

He’s about to leave for China with the Serie B team. What is the sporting programme that awaits you in Beijing?

First of all, I would like to thank Luiss, the management and in particular the Director Paolo Del Bene, who will allow us to live this sporting and cultural experience in China. On 30 March we will play a friendly match and then participate in meetings that will make us known as an institutional university body. In China I am also at the forefront in sports and in August the country will host the World Basketball Championships, which will also involve the Italian national team.

The basketball team was the first of AS Luiss. In your opinion, 20 years after its birth, do the boys perceive the importance of the tradition they carry on?

I think so. I’ve been following the Serie B team for two years. The boys live together in a single structure: they’re a real group and this is the key element in the planning of a very demanding season. Our athletes cultivate a dream through study, living together and playing basketball. We are atypical in this sense compared to other realities, but it is a fundamental element.

What do you hope for the two groups you are following?

What should not change is the sense of belonging to Luiss, although individual players or staff members may change.