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Interview: Julio Cesar Martin del Campo, Mexican basketball player
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7/11/2009
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Education is Important for Athletes
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Competitions at the 25th Summer Universiade are nearing the end. Thousands of young people, who will one day become leaders of their countries, competed and made new friends. Julio Cesar Martin del Campo, a Mexican basketball player is one of the athletes who came to Belgrade to get experience at a big sports event. Julio hopes to start to play for the Mexican A team in the near future. He believes that the experience in basketball matches at the Belgrade Universiade would help him become a better player.
He said for ub2009.org that basketball has lately become very popular in Mexico. Julio, however, knew as a child that basketball was going to be his profession.
- I never considered any other sport. My family played an important part in my choosing basketball. As a child, I used to go with my father and my uncles to basketball matches and I got hooked. Of course, I have great support from my family, especially my mother. We are a very close family and their opinion is very important for me – says Julio del Campo, who plays for Alkonusa from Veracruz.
He would like to play in a European basketball club because he believes that the best basketball is played on “the Old Continent”.
- A good friend of mine has just signed a contract with a Spanish club. I would like to continue playing for a European club because they play the best basketball – says Julio del Canto, a fighter under the hoops, but very quiet and withdrawn privately.
- I like being calm and collected. I like to be able to relax. I don’t know why I am like that and why I am a different person under the hoops – Julio revealed for ub2009.org.
Julio del Campo is not an exception. Many famous players have different personalities on and off the basketball court. Julio says that in spite of the fact that he is a loner, he has many friends in Mexico and likes to spend free time with them.
- We go out almost every weekend. The problem is that we usually have matches on the weekend and travel from town to town. But when I am free, I like to go out – explained Julio, who has managed to combine basketball with music.
This talented basketball player used to play piano as a boy, but admits that nowadays he prefers rock, especially since his brother has a rock band back home in Mexico. Besides regular training sessions, Julio believes that every player must have luck. That is why ne never takes of the rosary his mother gave him. Julio is also a great lover of the tattoo art.
- I like tattoos. For now, I have only my name tattooed on my back. It think that it is attractive to have a tattoo on your body – stated Julio del Campo for ub2009.org.
Julio del Campo is a student of company management. He thinks that education is of great importance in life, because professional players can easily be injured and must have something to fall back on.
- One cannot depend only on the career in basketball. There is always a possibility of injury that could put a stop to basketball career. Career in sport has a short life span and one cannot play the whole life. That is why athletes must have education, a profession that would provide them with the means for a normal life after their sports career ends. We are athletes now, but we cannot be athletes all our life – concluded the young Mexican basketball player.
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