A gentle giant. Loved and respected, in Sardinia as in the rest of Italy. The sudden death of Tore Serra, president of the regional basketball federation , has deeply shaken the island's basketball community, which has come together in memory of one of its most beloved icons. First, a key figure in Brill Cagliari's unforgettable season, then coach and founder of Basket Su Planu, a point of reference for generations of young players. Finally, he became president of the FIP Sardegna, a position he had held since 2021.

Among the first to express his condolences was the national president of the FIP, Gianni Petrucci, who recalled "his love for people, for basketball, and his simple and straightforward way of being a federal leader," expressing his closeness to his family and his brothers Rino and Ugo.

Legabasket president Maurizio Gherardini also remembered Serra as someone who was "always available and active," committed to supporting sporting events and promoting Sardinia's basketball tradition.

The clubs remembered . Dinamo Sassari, for whom Serra had worn the jersey in the 1982-83 season, offered a touching farewell . President Stefano Sardara's club remembered his talent and extraordinary shooting accuracy, but above all his subsequent commitment to developing young players and growing the club.

Esperia Cagliari, another club with which Serra spent a significant portion of his career, nearly achieving an incredible promotion to Serie A2 in 1986, also paid tribute to him: the Rossoblù dedicated their first away win of the season to his memory, achieved on Sunday at Virtus Cermenate in the Serie B Interregionale. The Sardinian National Olympic Committee (CONI) also expressed its condolences. President Bruno Perra, Serra's predecessor as head of the regional Basketball Federation and a longtime friend, expressed his condolences to the family on behalf of the entire Sardinian sports movement.

The pain of Su Planu . But perhaps it's the message from Basket Su Planu, the club Serra founded in 1988 and to which he dedicated much of his life, that paints the most intimate portrait of the man. "This time you've really played a dirty trick on us, President," reads the greeting published by the Selargina club. "We'd like to rewind the tape and go back to just three days ago. We left you in the gym, in your little big world, while you were organizing yet another party for your children, for your kids."

Then the memory of what Serra represented for entire generations: the children welcomed into the gym, the young people helped in difficult times: "You taught us that a bouncing ball can save your life," the club wrote.

A minute of silence . The FIP Regional Committee also paid tribute to its president. And to honor his memory, it held a minute of silence on all courts across the island during the matches taking place during the week.

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