My story with basketball starts with my mother, she played ball when she was young and became friends with the the players who represent Rio Grande do Sul, state from the south of Brazil, on the selections of 1977. 

The time I spent playing basketball competitively was very important to my personal growth. I always thank my coaches, Bira and Clairton and especially basketball, for all that I’ve learned inside and outside the lines. 

At this point in my life, when I was 18 to 20, I started university and working with design and basketball became fun and leisure. Only with friends, I stopped competing. 

Some years forward I moved to São Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil, for work and to finish my studies and of course always keeping basketball near. I finished university and became a designer.

Do you have a specific hoop story as a kid that made you fall in love with the game?

The ball I received from my mother is the most memorable memory in my basketball history. 

Athletes were given messages about responsibility and coexistence, they required a small interpretation of us, contributing a lot to the understanding of social sense and good behavior. 

They were very important because they had the role of conveying the desired message but they also had the side of always giving importance to the intellectual side of the athlete. 

This kind of care is what makes the difference in the personal growth of athletes and talking as an adult formed by basketball it makes perfect sense nowadays. I kept all the messages in a box, along with the medals and photos taken by the town papers, all of these saved to this days with much love.

What is Basketball in São Paulo like?

As I said before, São Paulo is the biggest city in Brazil and has the largest basketball community in the country.

Basketball grows every day in São Paulo and Brazil, with different projects and initiatives, and personally I will always want to contribute to the popularization of the sport I love. This is what we are trying to do every day.

STREETOPIA is described as “Maior festival dedicado a cultura do basquete na América Latina”. Describe what that means exactly?

A festival dedicated for the basketball culture in Latin America! Our name says all, the utopian moment to have all this things together in one single place. In 2019 we received about 7,300 people in two days of festival.

More than 1,300 athletes playing 160 games! 

Every year we choose a theme and this year we went savage in the JUNGLE. The work for the next episode has begun, save Aug. 2020 for it, prepare your wings, EP.03 will be amazing.

What is your role in STREETOPIA? What's your favorite part about it? Who inspires you?

I work in as an Art Director and this is one of the coolest places to be. STREETOPIA is not only an event. We have a special side that does social work, we build basketball courts and refresh some old courts, boards and hoops in needy places. This is one of the best parts of it all, the smile on the kids faces is so satisfying.

This past year we went to Paris for Quai54, our team had big names like Leandro Barbosa, NBA champion and Scott Machado both Brazilian players that played in Brazil's main team and NBA. 

We went to the final and lost to a great French team with many good players who also represent their countries on professional teams. 

The experience to bring our brand across the ocean and connect with a lot of special people on that trip was awesome and we want more of that. Our next step will be open our e-commerce and start selling our merch with our brand and identity. Stay tuned.