The Special Olympics Unified 3x3 Basketball World Cup Draw Ceremony was held today in San Juan, Puerto Rico officially marking the start of the World Cup and setting the stage for what teams, spectators, families, and basketball fans around the world can expect for gameplay come 5 – 7 December.
What is the Draw?
The draw is the process of sorting the teams competing in the Cup into groups to see who they will play in the first round of the tournament.
Competing teams for both men and women are first divided into four pots based on their home region and quota allocation.
From there the teams are drawn and placed into their groups. The groups define “group play” which refers to the games that determine who advance to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals.
The groups are sorted as A, B, C, D, and E for men, and A, B, C, and D for women. On the men’s side of the competition, 20 teams are drawn and sorted into five groups of four teams. For the women, 18 teams are sorted into four groups—two groups of five and two groups of four.
The order in which teams are pulled is ordered as Group A1, A2, A3, and A4 with all four teams a group coming from different pots to ensure diverse competition for all. The process is repeated for all groups (B, C, D, and E) until the groups are complete.
Puerto Rico, as the host country, is the only pre-selected team and is automatically assigned the slot E1 in the men’s groups and D1 in the women’s tournaments. This is done to ensure the host team plays during primetime on opening day.
The Draw Ceremony
Lead by Special Olympics International, Special Olympics Puerto Rico, and the Local Organizing Committee for the Cup & MC’ed by Federico Lopez, son of Fico Lopez the former Puerto Rico basketball player, the draw gathered a number of influential figures from the global basketball community and Puerto Rico. Attendance included:
- Hector Vazquez Muniz, Puerto Rico’s Sports and Recreation Secretary
- Hector Magdiel Rivera, Director of Sports and Recreation for the Municipality of San Juan and in representation of the Miguel Romero, Mayor of San Juan
- Claudia Echeverry, Special Olympics Regional President and Managing Director
- David Bernier, President of the Special Olympics 3x3 Unified basketball World Cup
- Hamchetou Maiga-ba, Olympian, former WNBA player, and Special Olympics International Board member
- Maria Luisa Franklin, Special Olympics Puerto Rico Athlete Leader
- Pamela Rosado, Captain of Puerto Rico’s National Basketball Team
- Katie Villarini, Puerto Rico National Basketball Team and National 3x3 Team member
Basketball players from Special Olympics Puerto Rico were in attendance as well.
What’s Next?
Special Olympics teams will use the next 92 days to train with their team and prepare to come to San Juan to compete for the title of Special Olympics Unified 3x3 Basketball World Cup Champion.
The tournament will begin on 5 December with Special Olympics Puerto Rico facing Special Olympics Angola on the women’s side and Special Olympics Puerto Rico playing Special Olympics Bharat for the men.
The three days of competition will conclude on 7 December marking the completion of the first-ever Special Olympics Unified 3x3 Basketball World Cup.
Check out the Special Olympics 3x3 Unified Basketball World Cup website to stay up to date on information about the tournament.
