“It has a brutal projection. It is the best we have in A Estrada and it may be the best we ever had”, Says his coach, Jesús Pereiro, who also draws attention to an important factor at this point, Iziar’s physical disadvantage over most of his rivals. “Physically she is very athletic but she is still very small and lacks the strength to endure long championships with many games. He also plays against rivals who take a head out of him but he moves very well on the court and has a great punch. It has to continue like this and wait to give the stretch ”, he acknowledges.
Along with Iziar in this Spanish Championship was his mother, Patricia Iglesias, a former player of the club and now a coach. “He has only been in badminton for a few years. At first he combined it with synchronized swimming, but he did a lot and chose badminton, ”he recalls. “She is good at it but is small for her age. Play with more developed girls and that takes more effort. It has much merit”. The coach considers that this physical conditioning factor was noticed in the semifinal she lost, which she arrived very tired after several games. Iziar, for his part, acknowledges that he had more hope in the individual than in the doubles, in which he recently formed a couple with the Cantabrian Paula Yedra. “I didn’t have the doubles because this was our fifth championship together but it went well. In the individual, however, the rival was very tough, ”says the young player.
Badminton, a family tradition
Badminton is the king of sports in Iziar Barcala’s family. This passion comes from afar, since his grandfather, Rogelio Iglesias, was the first president of the A Estrada Badminton Club, founded in 1994. “One day one of my daughters came home and asked me to buy a badminton racket. I was surprised ”, explained the ex-manager when remembering the beginnings of this sport in the town. His daughters Lucía, Bárbara and Patricia Iglesias later played for the Estrada team. Of them, Patricia, ended up also making the leap as a base coach. Iziar, daughter of Patricia, is therefore the third generation of the family linked to this sport, together with her brother Álex, also a player of the estradense quarry. The arrival of her children to badminton also led Patricia to return to the club, working as a coach in base categories.
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