Shay Shtriks: We expect a very strong competition; check also the schedule of the competition

After it became clear that KK Kumanovo 2009 is the 10th in EUROHOLD Balkan League for season 2013/2014, the schedule of the competition is ready. The group games will start on October 15th and the official opening will be on October 17th with the game between SCM U Craiova and BC Levski from group B. Here is what the Sports director of the tournament Shay Shtriks had to say about the schedule and other stuff and then check the complete programme of the first round:   "After meeting with the management of Balkan we decided to make their first home game on November 28th against Galil Gilboa and it will be the opening of the new gym in Botevgrad. Galil will travel a few days before and will play against Kumanovo in order to combine the two games with one trip. The two teams from Kosovo - KB Peja and KB Sigal Prishtina will play away from home in their first games and the management of the league will attend those matches in order to check and see that everything is OK. Mean while KK Kozuv will play its first game at home and there they will be presented with the Fairplay award from the last season.   This season we expect to have a lot of close and interesting matches. We put a lot of effort in the marketing field as well, we are going to have a new modern server to which all the teams will have access. In 4 of the 6 countries the game will be LIVE on the TV and generally I can say that 100% of the games will be broadcast LIVE on TV and internet. Knowing the budgets and the structure of the teams, every one will have a chance to go to Top 6 and there we could have more good and interesting games like Levski - Balkan for example. I′m sure the fight for the Top places will be very hard and we are in for a very strong competition.   We are going to pay more attention to the clubs to follow the rules of FIBA Europe regarding the uniforms and the behaviour. We expect full gyms, nice atmosphere and of course excellent behaviour from the fans as it has been the case in the previous season. We pushed hard to provide the best possible conditions - accomodation, transportation, hosting in order to upgrade further the level of the competition.    This season the league will continue to cover the expenses for the referees and also the expenses for the flights to Israel of the teams and the referees. The league will also provide advertasing materials and will continue with Spalding as the official ball like in the NBA and the Euroleague.    We are ready for the new challenge. In the official regulations for this season there are three options - a league with 9 teams, a system of 2 groups by 5 teams and the third one is with 2 groups by 6 teams. The first option does not exist anymore and we are always open and ready to go to option Nr. 3. With groups by 5 teams every round one of them is free and if clubs by Croatia and Serbia find a way to come back to the league, they are more than welcome. Financially we are prepared for that challenge.    In any case we are ready to start on October 17th with the game between Craiova and Levski and to have another great season."

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SCHEDULE FOR THE GAMES IN GROUP A OF EUROHOLD BALKAN LEAGUE   SCHEDULE FOR THE GAMES IN GROUP B OF EUROHOLD BALKAN LEAGUE