Organized basketball appeared in Agia Paraskevi quite early, with the foundation of Keravnos in 1954. The Thunder, originally a men’s basketball club, was renamed in 1977 to Gymnaσtiko Σύλλλoγoγoς Agia Paraskevi, GΣAP, establishing at the same time women’s sections.
As is usually the case with local sports clubs, a group of basketball fans who could not find expression in the existing club founded the Agia Paraskevi Basketball Friends Club, OFKAP, in 1987, a club directly competing with the GSAP.
The new club, OFKAP, shows particular dynamism, creating a clear prospect of a presence in the National Basketball League for the city’s teams.
In 1999, after many discussions and mutual compromises, the people of the two clubs give an innovative response to the new challenges, a response that is probably unique at the level of local club sports: they decide that the two clubs should act cooperatively and each of them should focus exclusively on the development of Men’s or Women’s basketball.
Thus, the GSAP becomes purely a Women’s basketball club and at the same time the Agia Paraskevi Basketball Club, KAP, explicitly providing in its statutes for the prohibition of the establishment of Women’s basketball sections, takes the place of the OFKAP and the main responsibility in the development of men’s basketball in Agia Paraskevi.
The benefits of the cap’s focus on men’s basketball can be seen immediately. In the same season, 1999-2000, CAP will move up to the 3rd national division, where they will remain for about ten consecutive years, playing spectacular but competitive basketball, thus establishing Agia Paraskevi as a high level basketball destination on a national scale.
The first sign of transcendence came in 2008-2009, when the team was promoted to the second national team, only to return to the lower division the following year. Failure stiffens the resolve of the Cap people who, building an outstanding team, embark on an unprecedented 4-year journey.
In 2010-2011 CAP wins the third national championship and moves up to the second division, setting a record in the club’s history with 13 consecutive wins and securing the title from almost halfway through the league.
The very next year, CAP achieves promotion to the A2 big leagues. There, not content with the role of an extra, the club faced the historical clubs of Greek basketball such as Pangrati and Hercules, finishing 5th in the A2 division for the 2012-2013 season, which is the club’s greatest sporting success.
Taking stock of the Dream Years, we would say that in order for the dream to come true, many people contributed and a sincere and big “Thank you” must have many recipients.
If we had to name some of them we would include the President of successes Dimitris Kontakis, the organizational soul of the team and General Secretary Paris Kardaras, the pragmatic Head Coach of the ascents Nikos Hadjipanigiri and the Captain and leader of the team George Zervos.
Thank you for the dream!
The country’s ongoing economic crisis has drastically reduced the team’s revenues. The people who were in positions of responsibility in the administrative and sporting part of the CAP tried to react, did their best by investing time, money, energy and personal credibility in the beloved club.
CAP continued to be competitive in every league it participated in, both with its men’s team and with its Academy teams, playing beautiful basketball, a benchmark for friends and opponents alike.
But the end of this period finds the team in the local division of the A’ ESKA after 19 years of continuous presence in national leagues.
The shock of relegation was a catalyst. It made everyone look at the history of the CAP and why our city club deserves so much better.
There we saw that Agia Paraskevi is a unique basketball town. Many of our fellow citizens love basketball and are actively involved in it as athletes, coaches, referees, managers, club agents, federation administrators, etc.
There we saw that more than 50 athletes who have passed through the CAP academies are playing basketball in all local and national leagues.
There we met all those who have contributed to the club from time to time and who, without exception, declared themselves present to help again, declared themselves Together and in Difficulty!
So positive feelings replaced the initial negative ones. Stubbornness won out over sadness. Hope vanquished disappointment. Offerings trumped resignations. Certainty trumped doubt.
This allows us to say only one thing:
The Future has just begun. And it will be better!
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