SASHA
Ciobanu
The Journey Continues.
FROM DAY ONE
THE JOURNEY
All photos below are real, taken during the actual moments they belong to.
Which also explains the image quality evolution over the years 🙂
PROLOGUE
NOVEMBER 23, 2011
The Day It All Began
Long before the tournaments, the medals or the packed gyms, there was simply a child discovering movement, curiosity and play.
The journey did not begin with basketball.
Or even with swimming.
It began much earlier.
AGE 2
6 AUGUST, 2013
The Beginning
Started swimming alongside his daycare classmates.
At first, it was just water, noise and movement.
Nobody was thinking about discipline yet.
But looking back, that’s where the routine quietly began.
The Imaginary Hoop
Basketball started before the first real court.
Before the first coach. Before the first jersey.
It started in the park, shooting at an imaginary basket.
A few months later came the first basketball practice.
He was 4 years and 11 months old.
AGE 4
NOVEMBER 2, 2016
More Than a Medal
The first swimming competition.
The first medal.
After the race, coach Lucian asked a simple question:
“Do you want medals, or do you want a real athlete?”
At the time, it sounded too big to understand.
Years later, it still matters.
AGE 5
MAY 5, 2017
The Night Before
The first basketball game came with something new:
emotion that didn’t let him sleep the night before.
Not pressure. Not fear.
Just the feeling that something important was about to begin.
AGE 6
DECEMBER 9, 2017
“I Want Basketball.”
At the end of a basketball tournament came the sentence that changed everything:
“Basketball is what I want to do.”
Swimming didn’t disappear.
For three more years, it remained part of the process.
Not as a backup plan, but as preparation.
AGE 7
APRIL 25, 2019
All In
At 10 years old came the final decision: swimming ended,
basketball became the direction.
No dramatic speech. No big announcement.
Just a quiet decision followed by daily work.
AGE 10
2021
The Work Starts Showing
Some moments become visible.
46 points at the U15 Final Tournament.
50 points at the U16 Final Tournament.
Top scorer of the U15 Finals with 138 total points.
But the numbers were never the full story.
The real victory was becoming the kind of athlete younger Sasha once imagined.
2025-2026
SEASON
Still a long journey ahead.
Still at the beginning.
The 2025–2026 season brought moments that became visible, but the story was never meant to stop there.
There is still work to do. Still lessons to learn.
Still a long journey ahead.