CaixaBank and Valencia Basket bring paralympic sport closer to young people with the Empower Kids program in Valencia

• Around one hundred boys and girls from the Valencia Basket Club summer camp took part in the event to meet Dani Stix in person and learn what life is like for a top-level wheelchair basketball player

• This event is part of the Empower Kids program, a new sponsorship activation plan by CaixaBank aimed at introducing paralympic sport to children with the goal of normalizing disability from an early age
• This initiative highlights the financial institution’s strong commitment to Paralympic sport, with which it has maintained a close relationship since 2016 through agreements with the FEDDF and the CPE

CaixaBank, official sponsor of the Spanish Paralympic Committee since 2019 and a member of the Support Plan for Paralympic Sport (ADOP), has organized, together with Valencia Basket Club, the second edition of the Empower Kids program in Valencia. This initiative, created by the financial institution, aims to bring paralympic sport closer to children and promote the normalization of disability from an early age.

Through Empower Kids, CaixaBank activates one of its three strategic actions for the current Paralympic cycle, in which it is a sponsor, by organizing events in schools and creating content with athletes. Empower Kids is one of the key initiatives within this framework, along with the ‘Our Next Star’ program and the Paralympic Triathlon Promises Team. Through four sessions with professional athletes from across Spain, CaixaBank promotes the sharing of stories, the creation of content, and the development of synergies that convey an inclusive message to society.

The event held today at L’Alqueria del Basket, the training facility of the “taronja” club, featured the participation of nearly one hundred boys and girls under the age of 10 from the Valencia Basket Club summer camp. The main guest was Dani Stix, a wheelchair basketball player. Through a theoretical and practical session, attendees were able to learn firsthand about the experience of an elite paralympic athlete, breaking down stereotypes and promoting values such as inclusion and diversity.

Participants at the Valencia Basket Club campus with Dani Stix

The session was attended by Beatriz Alventosa, Commercial Director of CaixaBank in the Valencian Community; Vlado Babic, coordinator of L'Alqueria del Basket; and Paco Pardo, Head of the Club’s Personal Development Area.

During the event, moderated by sports journalist Almudena Rivera, a video from the project ‘Professors of Nonconformity’ was shown, in which Dani Stix shares his experience as a role model in Paralympic sport. Afterwards, the children participated in a practical on-court activity, where they played with the athlete and received technical advice.

Dani Stix plays with the participating boys and girls at the Valencia Basket Club campus.

The session also served as an opportunity for the young players to share impressions, doubts, questions, and concerns with Dani Stix. All of this took place under the attentive eyes of the Valencia Basket Club coaches and the event’s guests.

According to Beatriz Alventosa, Commercial Director of CaixaBank in the Valencian Community: “The main reason we are here today is to promote paralympic sport in Spain through financial support, media visibility, and inclusion programs. With initiatives like this, CaixaBank aims to support the ‘nonconformists of sport’ on their journey to the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games, reinforcing its commitment to a fairer and more inclusive society”.

Dani Stix at the Valencia Basket Club campus

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion in Sport

For CaixaBank, sports sponsorship is a strategic communication tool that promotes values the institution shares with athletic practice, such as leadership, effort, perseverance, and teamwork. Through sponsorship, the financial institution fosters cultural, social, and economic progress, in line with its founding values of commitment to society.

For this reason, in 2016 the institution decided to invest in paralympic sport sponsorship to promote inclusion in sports and reaffirm its commitment to diversity. The first agreement was as the main sponsor of the Spanish Federation of Sports for People with Physical Disabilities (FEDDF), with the goal of promoting wheelchair basketball in both the men’s and women’s categories.

At the same time, CaixaBank became involved in school wheelchair basketball championships to reach all age groups in society.

Later, in 2019, CaixaBank became a new sponsor of the Spanish Paralympic Committee. Through this sponsorship, which will remain in effect until the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic cycle, CaixaBank actively collaborates with the CPE through the ADOP program, providing scholarships directly aimed at supporting the training of Spanish Paralympic athletes.

Through its sponsorship of the CPE, the FEDDF, and the adapted skiing program in Sierra Nevada, the financial institution expands its commitment to paralympic sport, fulfilling its main objectives, ensuring that athletes have access to the best possible resources to achieve sporting success and to share the values they represent with society.

In addition, during this time CaixaBank has contributed added value to its collaboration by launching awareness campaigns aimed at promoting paralympic sport and its athletes, helping to increase public recognition of their sporting achievements and the values that underpin each of their actions.

As a result, CaixaBank is considered the second most prominent brand in paralympic sport in Spain, after Fundación ONCE, according to the sports sponsorship barometer published by SPSG Consulting.