O Bauru Atlético Clube (BAC) foi um clube de Bauru (SP), fundado em 1919, famoso por ter revelado Pelé na categoria infantil, sob o comando de Waldemar de Brito, antes de o craque seguir para o Santos em 1956.
Bauru Athletic Club
Bauru Athletic Club, known by the acronym BAC, was a football club from Bauru, in the interior of São Paulo. It became famous in sports history as the youth academy club where a young Pelé played between the ages of 13 and 14. Today the club no longer exists.
History
The club was founded on May 1st, 1919, in Bauru (SP), with the name Luzitana Football Club, and later became known as Bauru Athletic Club. The acronym BAC gave rise to the nickname "Baquinho", used mainly for the youth team that would become the most remembered in the association's history. BAC's fame is linked to Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé. At 13 years old, after shining in street football and futsal, Pelé began playing for the club's youth team, coached by Waldemar de Brito, a former player of the Brazilian National Team at the 1934 World Cup. It was at BAC that the young player gained the structure of an organized team, with training, uniforms, and competitions. In the youth category, the team won the double championship of the Bauru League with Pelé in the squad. It was at the invitation of Waldemar de Brito that the young player traveled to Santos in 1956 to tryout at Vila Belmiro, a step that would lead him to Santos' professional team and later to the three World Cups won with Brazil. Pelé's time at the club lasted only two years, but it was enough to make BAC a reference point in the memory of São Paulo football. The club ended its activities and ceased to exist, and the story of Baquinho continues to be remembered in Bauru as the starting point of the greatest idol of Brazilian football.