THESSALONIKI – (Greece) – Basketball’s history traces back to the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association), which has greatly influenced the game in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. Right in the middle of that connection stands Eleftheria Theodoroudi, who works at the YMCA Thessaloniki and is helping the institution promote basketball and educate others about its past.
Theodoroudi acts as the curator of the YMCA Thessaloniki’s Basketball Museum and is a member of the FIBA Foundation’s Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee. And she has witnessed firsthand how impactful the YMCA can be on the local residents.
Theodoroudi has a background in archaeology and museology and used to work as a research assistant and project manager at the University of Thessaloniki.
The YMCA opened its doors to the city in 1921 and has played a vital role there, shaping the identity of its citizens, especially since the city only became part of Greece in 1912.
“The history of Thessaloniki goes hand in hand with the history of YMCA. Through the history of the YMCA, you can understand the history of Thessaloniki,” said Theodoroudi, who began working with the organization in 2017.
"Even people who aren’t directly involved know the organization and what it stands for. Its strength lies in its tradition and strong sense of community. You can see that in the volunteers and the people who engage with it. It’s deeply embedded in the city’s culture.”
Part of the association’s concept is the idea of the triangle - mind, soul, and spirit. And the YMCA Thessaloniki offers educational programs, sports activities, camp programs, and social initiatives.
There is a wide range of programs at the facility, from kindergarten and nursery school to classes like pottery, jewelry making, Pilates, yoga, and many different sports academies. The YMCA Thessaloniki has about 1,000 official members, but more than 5,000 people participate in YMCA activities overall. Its impact is very large as it is located in the center of the city.
Being from Thessaloniki, Theodoroudi is touched by how important the YMCA is to the city.
“It’s a deeply personal experience - a kind of self-reflection. My own history is intertwined with the history of the YMCA and the history of the city. There’s a strong connection there, an entanglement between personal, institutional and local history. It’s very meaningful to see how all of these layers interact,” she said.
Another major part of the YMCA Thessaloniki is its Basketball Museum, which was founded in 2013.
The location of the museum holds special meaning as it stands in the exact spot where basketball was played for the first time in 1919 when YMCA brought the sport to the country and promoted it. The outdoor court hosted basketball and volleyball games in the city and housed as many as 2,500 spectators. The court area was eventually demolished in 2002 due to structural issues and the need for modernization, especially after earthquake damage.
When the court was demolished, a new sports center was built in 2008. The museum is now housed within that complex. Essentially, the sports center acts as the “shell” for the museum.
After nearly a decade of considering creating a museum, YMCA Thessaloniki leaders received the funding as part of the INTERREG program Greece - Bulgaria. A second program helped the museum add another wing in October 2019, and the museum had a third expansion in 2022.
The museum gets around 5,000 visitors annually - over half of them being students participating in educational programs designed for the student community, which help focus on the history of basketball.
There are some 1,500 local visitors to the museum, while Theodoroudi said some 500 internationals seek out the museum.
The museum has about 800 items on display - about 20 percent of the some 4,000 items in the institution’s collection.
Some of the most important exhibits are original artifacts from the former venue, including turnstiles, lights, scoreboards, and even an original basket. There is also a photo from a game in 1961 with visitors able to see the actual objects from that image preserved alongside it.
Among the other highlights in the museum are the first medal ever won by the Greek national basketball team - third place at the FIBA EuroBasket 1949. Also presented are identity cards from two YMCA players who represented Greece at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki: Dimitrios Taliadoros and Anestis Petalidis.
The museum also features a game ball from the FIBA EuroBasket 1987 - Greece’s first gold medal at the continental level - and signed by all the players from the team. There is also the ball from Greece’s title win at the FIBA EuroBasket 2005.
There are numerous items, including jerseys from a number of the top players in Greece’s basketball history, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dimitris Diamantidis, Vassilis Spanoulis, Nikos Zisis, Nikos Galis, and Panagiotis Giannakis, among others.
A large part of the collection comes from the YMCA itself, while other items were donated by individuals, and other items have been purchased.
Theodoroudi said a significant portion was essentially crowdsourced.
“It’s been very moving to see how people embraced the initiative. The museum really stands as an ‘arc’ of sports history for the city and the country. It is a massive initiative of the people of YMCA, and we try to keep up with it,” she said.
The organization also has a significant archive with different types of records dating back to the '20s. The first years of the archive are underrepresented, but after 1945, the archive is complete.
A very significant figure from the early years of the YMCA Thessaloniki was Lewis Reiss, who came to Greece in 1924 from the United States and stayed about 10 years. During that time, he translated the rules of basketball into Greek, put pressure on the Ministry of Education to introduce basketball, volleyball, and other sports into schools and universities, and helped establish basketball’s foundation in the country.
Reiss also helped facilitate scholarships for YMCA members to travel abroad, learn and bring knowledge back to Greece. One of those individuals was Simeon Mavroskoufis, who later played a role in the founding of FIBA in 1932 in Geneva.
The connection of Mavroskoufis, FIBA, and 1932 also played a major role in another major moment for the YMCA Thessaloniki.
As part of the 90th anniversary of the founding of FIBA in 2022, the FIBA Foundation, the Greek Basketball Federation, and the YMCA Thessaloniki signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in a ceremony in Thessaloniki, where the museum and sports center were dedicated to Mavroskoufis.
The goal of the MOU was to provide a framework for the parties to work together and join their forces with the desire to use the power of basketball to preserve and promote Basketball Culture and Heritage.
Part of the Cultural Heritage unit is the FIBA Community of Basketball Historians. The YMCA Thessaloniki is connected to the community, a group dedicated to researching, preserving, and promoting the global history of basketball. It brings together experts and collectors to protect the sport's legacy.
When asked about YMCA Thessaloniki’s plans for further expansion of the museum, Theodoroudi said: “There are always plans, but it ultimately comes down to funding.”
The curator said the body is considering a dedicated space for temporary, rotating exhibitions to give back to their donors who gave their most valuable items.
YMCA Thessaloniki is also looking into creating digital exhibitions that would allow people to explore the collection online. That would help out with problems of needing more physical space to present items.
Theodoroudi said it would be important to display the items because many of the contributions are not widely acknowledged.
“There is a lot to be learned from archival material - letters, documents, and historical records - that shows just how much passion and effort went into developing basketball. It’s important to preserve and study that history,” she said.
It’s all about growing the understanding of the game - something Eleftheria Theodoroudi and the YMCA Thessaloniki have been pushing for many years.
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About the FIBA Foundation
The FIBA Foundation is the social and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.
FIBA’s cultural heritage is the heart of the FIBA Foundation’s cultural and historical activities. It is one of the driving forces behind the promotion and dissemination of FIBA’s values.