Nagasaki Velca
Nagasaki's first professional basketball club, founded in 2020.
The Nagasaki Velca is a Japanese professional basketball team based in Nagasaki. The team competes in the B.League Premier, the highest division of the B.League, as a member of the Western Conference. Their home games are played at Happiness Arena.
Quick Facts
- Leagues
- B1 League
- History
- Nagasaki Velca (2020–present)
- Founded
- 2020
- Division
- Second
- Conference
- West
- Arena
- HAPPINESS ARENA
- Capacity
- 6,000
- Location
- Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Facts from the source article.
Franchise history
In 2020, Japanet announced the creation of Nagasaki Prefecture's first professional basketball club. The club was formally launched on July 10, and began competing in B3, the third division of the B.League, in the 2021–22 season. The operating company, Nagasaki Velca Co., Ltd., was established with Hideki Iwashita as president and CEO and Akito Takata as director; its headquarters are in Manzaimachi, Nagasaki City. On January 26, 2021, Takumi Ito was named head coach and general manager. The team name was chosen through a public process: from 2,324 suggestions, three finalists were selected—Nagasaki Jabuzz, Nagasaki Haretto, and Nagasaki Velca—and after online voting and in-person events across Nagasaki Prefecture, the name Nagasaki Velca was unveiled on October 30. "Velca" combines elements of "welcome," "well community," and "victory." In their inaugural season, the team posted a 42–3 record, a B3 winning percentage of .933, and were named B3 Champions, earning promotion to B2. On May 17, 2022, it was announced that Takumi Ito would remain general manager while Kenjiro Maeda, previously associate head coach, became head coach for the 2022–23 season. On May 29, the B.League placed Nagasaki in the West conference of B2.
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