The captain, one of the players who tested positive for Covid-19, reflects on the situation that her National Team is going through in the AmeriCup of Puerto Rico.
Melisa Gretter, captain of Argentina who is facing the women’s AmeriCup in Puerto Rico without her presence on the court after she tested positive for coronavirus, cannot hide her feelings: “We have a lot of helplessness and sadness because we did everything right and unfortunately all this happens to us at the wrong time”.
The national delegation traveled to Puerto Rican lands after more than forty days of tireless work under the orders of a world-class coaching staff and staff with the hope of making history after seamless preparation. But just a few hours after stepping onto Caribbean soil for the first time, the bad news arrived: the positives of Gretter and Agostina Burani, together with the close contact of Andrea Boquete – later also positive -, punished a National Team that was just getting settled in the Hotel Verdanza.
The cases had an immediate impact on the national team. With primary concern for the health of the players, Argentina had to face its debut in the tournament with a rotation of just nine members. Even despite the setbacks and the uncertainty until the last moment due to the participation of Macarena Rosset, Gregorio Martínez’s team beat the Dominican Republic in the debut and fell with dignity against Puerto Rico in their second presentation.
But hours before the momentous and decisive duel against Venezuela, the coronavirus once again broke into the squad and struck a new slap at an already unguarded team: Victoria Llorente tested positive and Julieta Alé was isolated by close contact. With a squad limited to just seven athletes, FIBA decided to postpone and reschedule the match against Vinotinto. After the postponement, and taking into account that Argentina had Monday released as a rest day, it was an opportune moment for CAB press talk with Gretter, who is isolated in her individual room at the hotel: it should be noted that all the players who tested positive are in good condition beyond some mild symptoms, which are being carefully controlled by the work of Mariano D ‘ Elía, doctor of the delegation.
“From the moment we started preparing for this tournament we were aware that the possibility of contagion was there and that we were not unaware of this virus”, reflects the 28-year base that emphasizes the care that was followed as part of the protocol. For Gretter, emblem of the team, the situation that his team is going through is an unfortunate situation without internal responsibilities because the necessary measures were always taken to take extreme care.
“From the first day we take great care of ourselves, we take all possible precautions and we adjust to the protocols to reduce this possibility of contagion to a minimum. We had six swabs in all this time, in more than a month of preparation that we did to get here. They worked very well, there was a lot of effort in each and every one of the parts … But unfortunately it happened, and without a doubt at the least desired moment by any player or part of the team because we were excited and we had been having very good feelings as a team “he explained.
The days are long in a room, locked up without the possibility of seeing anyone around them, an anguish that logically affects the players involved while their Selection sisters fight on the playing field: “They were very hard days to face since the first positive result came to us. We feel very helpless because we could not do anything to reverse the situation, but luckily the symptoms were not serious”.
Gretter provided more details of the frustration that is a common denominator in the guts of a team going through natural disappointment at not having been able to meet the objective of their trip: “From what was Sunchales until the day of travel we were always controlled, by our own care and also by the attention we had by the team doctors. And although we had days off, they were days in which we stayed at the hotel, None of them went to their homes. We would go to the Ramada to train at Obras and Cenard in an exclusive bus for us, and from there once we finished training we would go back to the hotel. Every day was like this. That’s why today we have all that helplessness and sadness, because we did everything right and unfortunately all this happens to us at the wrong time, which is now in the tournament “.
Argentina learned by force to live with uncertainty while waiting for the results that they will receive in the next few hours, waiting for no new cases of coronavirus to be detected. While waiting for how her story will continue, Gretter is convinced that in this process a group was created and strengthened that neither sadness nor anger nor frustration will be able to break after more than forty days of working side by side to assimilate a new philosophy of work that quickly consolidated the human group as a single fist, a family.
The commitment and desire of the players is unwavering, capable of overcoming a litmus test that Gretter trusts will end up strengthening the National Team: “We are sad because it happens to us here in the middle of a tournament, but it is more than clear that this is not going to blur what we want with the Argentine National Team. That will never. All together we will gather forces in one way or another to return stronger than ever, to return to represent our country in the next tournament. Now all this comes together and we have a lot of sadness, of course, but it will pass and we will move forward “.
To conclude, the rafaelina did not want to forget the support, affection and constant concern that they send them from our country: “We appreciate the constant messages of encouragement from family, friends and all the people who make us endure from Argentina. The affection is always felt. Hopefully all this happens soon and we can return to enjoy our loved ones, basketball and everything what we like asap “.
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