Rafael Nadal was the chief guest at the 75th anniversary celebration of Movistar Estudiantes' basketball youth team in his native Spain.
Movistar Estudiantes is a prominent basketball team based in Madrid. Boys and girls from the club's youth team received a high-profile visit from Nadal and the Mayor of Madrid José Luis Martínez-Almeida. Nadal and the Mayor made their entrance together inside the Movistar Academy Magariños.
Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida said some nice words to the public, highlighting the significance of the student club to the city of Madrid and how each of the students in attendance was fortunate enough to meet with Nadal.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion would then chair the meeting by delivering a motivational speech to the children aspiring to become basketball professionals. For a man who has played professional sports for two decades, Nadal led by example explaining the core values of sport to 800 students at the academy.
Some children had the honor of going to the stage to ask questions. Later on, Nadal took pictures with the students who sat in the stands during the event and couldn't get close to him during his speech. A few days after the event, the 37-year-old penned his thoughts on having the opportunity to address aspiring young players.
"Last Thursday, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Movistar Estudiantes, I had the opportunity to participate in a motivational talk explaining the values of sport and I was able to answer the questions of the children from the quarry. It was an experience that I really liked and I hope it was useful for the children and other people present."— Nadal posted on X of his recent appearance at Movistar Academy
Nadal is currently putting in the hard yards to return to competition at next year's Australian Open. As he stated during a press conference on the eve of the 2023 French Open, he intends to play a farewell season in 2024.
El jueves pasado con motivo del 75 aniversario de Movistar Estudiantes, tuve la ocasión de participar en una charla de motivación explicando los valores del deporte y pude responder a las preguntas de los niños de la cantera. Fue una experiencia que me gustó mucho y ojalá…
