SAN ANTONIO -- Valero Energy Corp. Chairman Bill Greehey has been named chairman of the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 (Under-18) Championship for Men. FIBA is the International Basketball Association, according to the San Antonio Business Journal.
San Antonio is the first U.S. city to host this international basketball tournament, which will take place this summer at the Bill Greehey Arena at St. Mary's University, the report said. It will be hosted by the San Antonio Sports Foundation and USA Basketball and will feature the top young talent from eight national [image-nocss] teams: Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and the United States.
The tournament will be played from June 28 to July 2. The top four teams will qualify for the 2007 FIBA U19 (Under-19) World Championship for Men in Malaysia. FIBA is the world governing body for basketball on the Olympic stage. It has sponsored the tournament every four years since 1990.
The work that the Sports Foundation has done for many years laid the groundwork for San Antonio landing this Tournament of the Americas basketball championship, and it's something that will position the city to host future sporting events, which is great, Greehey told the newspaper.
Susan Blackwood, executive director of the Sports Foundation, said Valero has been a generous supporter of the foundation and having Greehey at the helm will make the tournament a spectacular experience for USA Basketball, FIBA and the talented young athletes.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.