Two colossi of painting united to relaunch their basketball

They are two of the great referents of Granada basketball, although each in their own way. One, from Alicante, spent most of his career dressed in red and has his shirt hanging from the Palacio de Deportes, near his current residence in Otura. The other, from Granada, never defended the local colors as a professional –only in the quarry–, but upon his retirement he lacked time to return to his native Alhendín to re-float basketball in his municipality.

It was in 2015 when Jesús Fernández began working with seven children in the basketball schools of Otura. At the time, Javi Mesa started with 22 in Alhendín. Despite having met many times on the courts, they were not friendly. Before the pandemic, the first had already 125 players, by 108 the second. An unaffordable growth to be able to work with quality in two such small municipalities. Hence, in the head of the ‘Americano de Villena’ an idea of ​​fusion arose that Mesa was surely already thinking about as well. “The first time we met, he looked at me and he already knew what I was going for,” Fernández acknowledges. So much so that next season CBAlhotur will make its debut, the result of the inevitable –and intelligent– joining of forces.

Closeness

The two former players, old-school centers, still have a hook in their sport. “We both have our jobs, but out of passion for basketball we want to give a service to our municipalities,” says Mesa. And they coincide on the red lines of the project. “Anyone who wants to play will do it,” they underline, with the challenge of “adapting to each other’s level.” A separate complex fact. “It was difficult to work with groups of 25 children and a single ward, something that we can now avoid,” says Fernández.

“The pandemic has opened our eyes,” continues the Alicante. “We had two years with a brutal growth of children but stagnant in terms of ideas, and now if we can consider adapting by levels,” he longs. “If we wanted to grow, we had to reinvent ourselves, not settle,” confirms Mesa.

Obviously, they both know that the competition will be fierce, with many clubs already established in the capital and the metropolitan area. For this reason, the two pivots focus on the “social work” they will carry out, above the competitive factor.

And as for the logistical difficulties that changing the municipality may entail – most teams will train in the two towns – they are optimistic. “Parents will have to make an effort, but we are going to break our heads to make it comfortable,” says Fernández. “The project has gone down very well and families have seen it as a great option to grow,” boasts Mesa, who recalls that “there are people who even walk daily from Otura to Alhendín.”

Pivots

Another important challenge for the new Alhotur is women’s basketball, with enormous growth in Granada in recent years. Of course, Fernández assures that the rise has occurred “only in the capital, because neither Otura nor Alhendín have managed to get a single team of girls in six years, simply have some playing in mixed teams.” A fact that they have proposed to change from the next academic year, “because it is as it should be”, remarks Mesa. In fact, two years ago it began to give more flight to the female plot in Alhendín, even creating a team of mothers, but the pandemic meant a sudden stop that now will have to be left behind with the merger.

With the coronavirus still raging, it is difficult to calculate the number of members of the new club. Of course, the luxury of working with two of the best centers that Granada basketball has had will be priceless. “We will be very much on top in the day to day,” says the ‘Americano de Villena’ with a collaborative eagerness. “I will train a team but I will be aware of the rest,” he continues, reasoning that “each coach will have his philosophy and his space but we will be there in case he needs anything.”

It is curious that in these times when the inside game seems under suspicion, Javi Mesa and Jesús Fernández unite with a common goal. And they are vindictive. “The pivot is a somewhat forgotten figure, being one of the most important,” begins the Alhendinense, lamenting that there are “people with potential who do not know how to play inside.” “You don’t have to train like 30 years ago, but we shouldn’t forget some aspects of the game,” Fernández closes. If at Alhotur, cooks before friars, do not worry about the pivots, you will already say where they will do it.