Center Nádia Colhado has certainly been a source of inspiration for a legion of women who pursue the dream of becoming professional players, mainly because she stood out in a sport which is widely led by men, and although there have been changes to become more inclusive, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Throughout Nadia’s sport career she has played for teams such as Atlanta Dream and Indiana Fever at the WNBA, the European Flammes Carolo and Girona, in addition to the Brazilian teams of Santo André, São José, Vera Cruz Campinas, São Caetano and Sport Recife. The center also participated with the Women's Basketball Team, in the London Olympics (2012) in Rio de Janeiro (2016) and in the AmeriCup in 2021, which was held in June.
The ABERTO STREETOPIA SÃO PAULO, an amateur basketball tournament held on the weekends of October, received Nádia as a guest, during the competition days, and of sure enough, we took the opportunity to chat, and that’s when she shared a little about her experience with us at the tournament:
HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ABERTO STREETOPIA SÃO PAULO?
I was in São Paulo undergoing rehabilitation for three months because of knee surgery and Carol Imoniana, one of the athletes at the tournament, invited me.
WE KNOW THAT THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER, YOU HAVE ALREADY PARTICIPATED IN SEVERAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AND TOURNAMENTS. WHAT WERE YOUR IMPRESSIONS AT THE ABERTO STREETOPIA SÃO PAULO?
Wow! When I got there, I didn't imagine something of that dimension, you know? The court, all that infrastructure and the crowd, the film crew recording the games, computers, the D.J., how I was welcomed, when I saw referee, Fatiminha, the physiotherapists providing muscle-relaxing massage sessions. I was really impressed. Not to mention, it was nice to be able to see many girls that I had played with in the youth category in São Paulo and meet some new players.
STREETOPIA HAS BEEN CAREFUL TO ORGANIZE AND PROVIDE PARTICIPANTS WITH A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. WHAT CAUGHT YOUR ATTENTION THE MOST?
The structure, I mean how cool was this tournament? Because the truth is, many girls have already tried to play professionally and we know that this is what is lacking today in Brazil, especially in women's basketball. It's these types of tournaments that encourage girls who are eagerly awaiting a tournament to play basketball and get together with their friends.
Delighted, Nádia, before ending the chat, said smiling: “I was very happy to be there, I really wanted to see a basketball game. I've been out of the courts for a while now and that Sunday morning made my day brighter...”
Learn all about ABERTO STREETOPIA SÃO PAULO at www.streetopia.me
