The Antwerp team will be known as 3×3 Antwerp TOPdesk for the next two years. Thanks to the financial support of the new sponsor, the world number 5 can become more professional.
“We are very happy with this agreement,” says captain Nick Seles. “We can now employ a jack-of-all-trades organizational expert who can remove as much of the administrative burden as possible from the players.”
Main sponsor TOPdesk will also support the team in purchasing an official 3×3 floor, although there is still an issue with that.
Since the demolition of the old training hall in Merxem, the team no longer has a permanent training site, and permanently installing a 3×3 floor in a sports hall that is also used for other sporting activities is not easy.
“We hope to find an old barn or abandoned auditorium and make it our base for future Olympic success,” she said.
In previous Olympics, Antwerp players also formed the Belgian Lions 3×3 team. In Tokyo, the quartet competed for medals, settling for fourth place in the end.
On a sporting level, the team recently suffered a defeat. Strongman Thibaut Vervoort has surrendered to foreign money and will defend China’s Futian Color from this season onwards. This team also attracted Dutch 3×3 star Demio van der Horst.
