León, Guanajuato – Mexican basketball has had its share of happy endings in international competitions. A notable example is the success of the men’s and women’s teams at the International Children’s Games held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2006.

Arturo “Mano Santa” Guerrero from León, Guanajuato, led the National Basketball Alliance at the time. After the National Olympiad, he decided to form two teams with the best 15-year-old talents in Mexico to participate in that year’s Children’s Games, which still featured 5-on-5 basketball.

“It was a great experience representing Mexico in Thailand. The young players had a very high level of skill. Together with Lorenzo Thomas, we created a list of the best players from the National Olympiad in Morelos and formed two teams of 10 boys and 10 girls,” recalled Arturo Guerrero, a Mexican basketball legend.

The men’s team won the gold medal after seven consecutive victories, defeating teams from Ghana, Ireland, Mongolia, Hungary, Bahrain, the United States, and Canada in the final.

The women’s team secured the silver medal after a hard-fought match against Canada.

“The biggest triumph of that participation in the Children’s Games was that upon returning to Mexico, all the players received scholarships from universities in Mexico, and two of them earned scholarships abroad,” said Guerrero Moreno, noting that the sport had fulfilled its promise to that generation by guiding them to become professionals through the benefits of sports.

Arturo Guerrero, already established as one of the most important legends in Mexican basketball, had also completed his first stint as coach of the National Team. However, he assures that coaching these youth teams was a unique experience.

“It’s a different world working with young people, forming selective teams, and guiding them. I was more like a father than a coach to them, and I remember them all with great affection,” he concluded.