By Agron SEJAMINI

He has trained over 40 basketball masters. You hear the names: Muhamet Përmeti, Njazi Lleshi, Petrit Murzaku, Agim Fagu, Kushtrim Zaçe, Kastriot Mushi, Gazmend Çaçi, Robert Kuqo, Pjerin Bushati, Artan Terihati and the icons of Albanian basketball unfold before your eyes. The “sculptor” of this greatness is named Astrit Greva. When he was not yet 21 years old, he was appointed coach of the “Partizan” team. Not that he was the best. But, precisely for this fact, only he could be sacrificed by the team players, after Naim Pilku left to study in the Soviet Union. But he did not have the opportunity to enjoy the day, what he dreamed of at night…! Some of his friends, irritated by their ego and the desire to have that task themselves, began to disobey him in training.

In most cases, they also took advantage of his inability to lead the team. With composure and foresight, he was able to overcome these unpleasant situations, adding theoretical preparation and social communication. Thanks to the skill of the team but not the coach, "Partizani" became champion three times in a row. Three years, for 30 years of experience. His composure and self-confidence made him not only lead but also dare. He devised and implemented the practice so that the "Partizani" team would not rely only on the talents he provided in the districts, taking advantage of his military service.

The continuity of winning championships for the 1963-'64 season was lost, but a new mentality and practice was established, the fruits of which would be felt continuously. Now, another generation with talents such as; Agim Fagu, Edmond Moja, Guxim Bekteshi, Besnik Pëllumbi, Dodan Përmeti, who for nine consecutive years did not lower the team from the podium of honor. The most special thing was that a completely different "Partizan" was born. No longer with slow actions, and a dormant defense but agility, competitive spirit, productive and triumphant. This change is confirmed by the dignified participation in the European Cups. In 1968 they faced the champion of Italy, recording the surprise results 67 : 68 in Rome and 73 : 73 in Tirana.

The second meeting was also attended by the President of the World Basketball Federation, Johns. The foreign press wrote that; “modern basketball was discovered in Tirana”. While Agim Fagu, after being awarded the trophy of the meeting as the best scorer with 48 points, was awarded a place in the European team. A “Partizan” who began to write his golden name, not only in the history of Albanian basketball. Next to him, the name of his coach, 28-year-old Astrit Greva. But the peak of “Partizan” would be reached with the next generation, when Zaçe, Mushi, Kuqo, Terihati, Bushati, Çaçi, Leka, Prifti… began to shine in Fagu’s path!

Not simply out of nostalgia but out of curiosity, I change direction in my conversation with this deserving coach. I ask him to tell me something intimate about each of these stars. I pronounce the name of the great Agim Fagu…! “He had a lot of authority. Almost as if he were a coach. I didn’t get jealous, but often, I felt the cracks he created in my relationships with the rest of the team. But I didn’t feed the rift as much as the desire and mobilization towards success. It is a great fortune for a coach to train and have in the team for 13 years, as much as I had, a player like Agim Fagu. Fortune but also very difficult…! I remember we were notified that we would be leaving for a tournament in Bucharest. Gimi had injured his knee and instead of training with the team, he preferred the beach.

I make it clear that this solution will remove him from participating in this tournament. Maybe he didn't want to listen to me, maybe he didn't believe that I would really be determined in what I was telling him. I didn't have a whim, but rather a working practice with everyone. He who didn't train with the team, didn't play in the next match, and especially not in this case, which was an international tournament. We left for Bucharest, we felt his absence a lot, as he was a player who made a difference, but more than the results, I was interested in discipline. Of course, this had consequences in our ongoing relations...", Greva recalled.

What about Kushtrim Zaca, what can you say?

Very talented, but if he trained even harder, he would give even more. Correct and with extraordinary presence in the game. He was very important in the team. But even with this player, not everything went well…! While we were training and preparing for the European Cup, where we would face “Honved” of Hungary, Kushtrim was separated from training for about a week, for family reasons. We went to Budapest and I didn’t have him as part of the team. We lost by one point.

A week later, the return match took place in Tirana. Again, to prove to him that discipline comes before the result, I did not include him in the first five. The first half ended and we were losing by 8 points. We could have been eliminated. I “forgot” about discipline and thought about that passionate fan base and the qualification. I activated him from the beginning and thanks to his skill, we triumphed amidst that extraordinary enthusiasm, which still rings in my ears today…!

What about relations with Kastriot Mushi?

Very good all the time. He shone after the departure of Agim Fagu, deserving the captain's armband. This player is productive and very talented. I have not had any disagreements, except for the end of his sports career. He did not take well to my announcement to leave the sport and work as a youth coach...! I understood that it was not easy to break away from that passion, which has motivated and filled his life. But unfortunately, I felt that he did not understand me. Later yes. After he brought me to train his two boys.

What about Robert Kuqo, what do you remember?

He came to me without being a basketball player. Well, excuse me, except for… his height. But thanks to his will, conviction, and dedication, he was able to achieve everything. The only basketball player who walked on his own two feet. Work, not talent, made him an athlete. He never caused me any problems. He fought and worked to achieve the best for the team and not for his name. From a player at the tail end of the team, he managed to go to the top of the team and be valuable for the national team. So did his brother, Artani. Kind, humble, and productive. Robert's son, Ermali, is certainly similar to him, a product of genes, work, and sacrifice. It is no small feat to be a player for "Valencia" in Spain and a player in the first five of the Turkish national team, as Ermali was, one of the most sought-after by elite teams in Europe.

And as we remember Pjerin Bushati, he begins to smile, giving us the momentary impression that he would have been even more acceptable than Robert. But…?

Oh, oh, oh, I remember a really special occasion with Pjerini. We were in Korça at a championship match. After the match ended, as usual we had two hours of free time. And as the clock struck and the whole team got on the bus, Pjerini was missing. After a quarter of an hour we see him at the end of the road walking calmly. One of his friends comes out and waves to him to speed up. He still didn't break the silence. We get on the bus and I tell him that his friends don't owe it to him to wait for you. When I was waiting for some word of regret in response, he says to me: - You didn't become a professor for ten minutes.

I tell him to get off the bus. He obeys me by coming to Tirana with the vehicles of the occasion. Maybe I could have been a little more tolerable, but again by defending discipline, I believed that he would justify my action. But it didn't happen like that. Pjerini no longer played with "Partizan" but, by his own wish, he left for another team...! He was a player of weight. He was in the first five and was worthily part of the national team. He was productive, combative and selfish. Years later, Pjerini also entrusted me with his son, to train him. A talent that I also had from the age of 9 to 14. Now he plays with the runner-up of Italy, in the second category and is a member of our representative team.

What about the legend, Gazmend Çaçi...?

We were together with Gazin for 13-14 years. A talented center player, with excellent physical preparation. He was distinguished by his speed and jump. I will never forget the emotion I felt from the kind words I heard from Valiero Bianchini, coach of the Italian national team. “This player can play very well, with any strong team in Europe. I would really like him in my team…”! That's who Gazmend Çaçi was. Although we had very good relations all the time, we “broke up” with Gazin in the end, when he left the sport. Even though he was 38 years old, he still wasn't convinced that it would be better for a young man to play for “Partizan”…! You have to understand that these are impressions of what happened, as no one can avoid them in his sports career. Moreover, when you have great players in your team. Me with them and they with me, we spent a life that remains honorable and unforgettable. However, it's not easy to train masters...!

NAME: Astrit Greva

BIRTH DATE: September 3, 1936

PLACE OF BIRTH: Vlora

EDUCATION: Graduated from the Higher Institute of Physical Culture "Vojo Kushi", Tirana

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Physical education teacher at the eight-year school "Kosova" and "1 Maji", the military school "Skënderbej" and the Unified School.

1954-1955. Team captain with the Tirana youth team. Year in which they were also declared national champions.

1957. He was called up to perform military service, with the "Partizani" basketball team.

1958. He was appointed coach of the "Partizan" basketball team, when he was not yet 22 years old.

1958-1991. Throughout this period he was a basketball coach at the "Partizani" club.

1968-1991. Coach of the adult representative basketball team

1972. Meritorious Sports Coach

The most difficult match? When he won…Teresina!

She was like all the others, in that group of girls that he trained, in the Palace of Pioneers. But the harassment and suspicion began months later, when he saw the charming girl from Shkodra sitting on the steps of the sports corner, watching a basketball game where Astrit was also playing. In the future, she caught more attention, as she watched almost every game. The boy began to feel good, when he convinced himself that she was coming for him. Caressed and happy by this fact, in addition to the looks, his interest also increased. But he was disappointed when he learned that she was the sister of Renato Radoja, the talented basketball player from Shkodra, his teammate.

However, now he who had begun to feel for her…! He increased his friendship with Renato, to get closer to Terezina. But more than a teammate, Renato “helped” his parents, conveying his suspicion of a possible sympathy between Astrit and Terezina. Concern seized the family in Shkodra. It was not even thought of, let alone realized, such a connection between a Catholic and a Muslim. Moreover, when this family was one of the most religious. So, as the most correct solution, they found the interruption of Terezina's studies at the Artistic High School in Tirana.

This was an unwanted response for Astrit as well. I thought he would leave it at that, but he couldn't. The days that passed only made the silhouette of the charming Shkodra woman more magical...! He did what had never crossed his mind. He left for Shkodra and knocked on her house. He called it a victory that they opened the door and agreed to talk to him. Four hours and a half of conversation with Terezina's parents, but without her presence. The poor boy begged and pleaded, but nothing changed their decision. Then they called the girl into the room.

– “Listen, my daughter! If you still have your mind on this boy, you should know that he separates me from the tribe once and for all. So, I want you to give me the final answer” – her father addressed her. A half-voiced response was heard. – “Astrit is the first boy I feel for…! But I will do whatever you say”. After they removed Terezina from the assembly room, the parents softened their voices a little more in the conversation. They escorted the guest without giving him lunch but… hope.

Then they united not only their hearts but also their passion for basketball. Terezina became a starter with “17 Nëntorin”, being declared national champion seven times and later a player and coach of the women's team of “Student”. She became a worthy part of the representative team and a Master of Sports.

126 international arbitrations, for Albi Greva

Since he was little, on Saturdays or Sundays he would be the first fan of "Partizan". At first he would rejoice when his father rejoiced, and then when he started to feel the magic of this game, he would become a fan...! Until he became part of the youth team with Aleksandër Dheri. He tried to compensate for his height with his fighting spirit and technique on the field of play. The passion and desire to be part of the legendary team that his father led in the future motivated him and made him more dedicated. But...one afternoon while he was going to training, he was confronted by his father. And while he was waiting for the next slap, he received the "slap", the pain of which he still feels today.

– “Albi! Don't get tired in vain. I suggest you pay more attention to your studies, while having sports as part of your culture, for your free time”. The fact that his father and one of the best coaches of the time was telling him this hurt him. And then, when he thought he had finally parted ways with the love of this game that he had grown up with, after a year, Andrea Troja, a specialist in the Basketball Federation, threw the idea of ​​becoming a referee at him. It had never even crossed his mind, let alone thought that it could become a reality! Moreover, he had shouted and cursed at these people, when they took revenge on his father's team…! However, the chance to “meet” basketball once again forced him to accept the invitation.

The first nightingale was heard in the University Games held in the premises of the "Student" City. Later, he managed to become part of the secretariat, marking the points or fouls on the table. While the first official meeting was held in Përmet in May 1986. The guest was the women's team of Elbasan, in a meeting that was valid for the second category championship. But he experienced the greatest emotions in the finals of the Republic Cup, when he refereed alongside the experienced referee, Xhelal Kalaja. And while 6 years ago, the Federation was begging him to become a referee, there came a moment when Albi knocked on this institution, begging them to help him win the World Basketball Federation License.

The desire was great but the budget was impossible. He was forced to secure the amount of money he needed for two weeks of testing himself by starting another job. In September 1993, he went to Italy to be tested. Among the 35 competitors, 17 won, including Albi. This license is as incredible as it is valuable, not only for the individual, but also for the Federation he represented, if we remember that several competitors failed, in whose countries basketball is an elite sport. Albi experienced the emotions of his first international match in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, when, together with a Hungarian referee, he directed a women's match, valid for the European Cups. It was October 1993. Years pass and now he does not find the emotion in the individual matches but in the number of matches. A total of 126.

The last refereeing was the one held in Sarajevo, between two teams from Bosnia and Denmark, in the European Cup for men. While some time later, the well-known Albanian referee Albi Greva, directs in Podgorica, the meeting between “Buduçnost” and “Montpellier” of France, valid for the European Cup for women. Of course, every meeting has its own impressions and emotions, but perhaps the most unforgettable for him will be the one in Thessaloniki in 1998.

He couldn't believe his eyes when he learned that he would be refereeing the men's basketball game between "Aris" and the Hungarian champion. How many times had he been excited and burst into joy in front of the TV screen when he watched the game of European basketball stars, fortunately some of whom are from neighboring countries. And now the day comes for him to referee the distinguished Greek team, of which Paspal was also a part. / Memorie.al