“I have 5 years to enjoy the ball”

“In sports you don’t have to look back, the present is worth it. I hope that the next five years will be fruitful and that we will obtain good results.” José Ramón Garai, CEO of Baiko, thus answered the question of whether he regretted the decisions made with Unai Laso in the past, including leaving the squad after failing to reach a renewal agreement in September 2020. It’s time of looking to the future, without a doubt, but without losing sight of what happened before, above all to avoid persisting in the error.

Laso has stamped his signature on the new contract that binds him to Baiko until June 2027. Although financial figures have not come out, the extension includes a substantial improvement in the emoluments he received since June 2021 when he returned to the ranks of the Biscayan company after nine months in which he was forced to play as an amateur to continue feeling like a pelota player. Likewise, the previous link, which expired at the end of 2023, is extended. With continuity guaranteed until the age of 30, the one from Bizkarreta has another five seasons to prove his worth. The manomanista champion becomes the current pelotari with the longest contract. No one from Baiko or Aspe has signed until 2027.

Laso thanked the association of pelotaris for all the support they gave me back in the day. If I am here today it is also because of them. The support of his colleagues from Baiko and the intermediation of those from Aspe was fundamental in giving an end to the strike and finding a place in both companies for Mariezkurrena II, Víctor, Eskiroz and Laso, the four pelota players whom the Biscayan promoter did not renewed the contract between the summer and the beginning of autumn 2020. Laso extended his gratitude “to the company, for the trust it has placed in me for the next five years. I am excited, happy. I have five years to enjoy the ball.

Play in Irun and Elgeta

Laso will open his contract on Friday in Irún on the occasion of the San Fermín Tournament round of four and a half against Iñaki Artola at the Uranzu. He will also participate in the Sunday festival in Elgeta. Garai assured that his pelota player will be “at the CaixaBank Masters and at the tournaments in Vitoria, Bilbao, Donostia and Logroño”, which confirms the return to the calendar of the summer events at Ogueta, Bizkaia and Atano III.

The director of Baiko pointed out that the new contract “reflects the current circumstances, which obviously are not the previous ones. Unai has made a great leap in the last year. You just have to look at their results. He is one of our reference pelotaris and this bet proves it. Such a long contract entails risks that we assume given its performance. He recognizes his work, his age and his margin of progression». The Biscayan manager stressed that the negotiation has been “easy and fast. On both sides there was an unequivocal will to continue together and to improve the contract. There was harmony and two meetings were enough, on Monday and Wednesday of last week. It is a decided bet from Baiko. Unai is still in an age of progress».

Although the agreement has been forged in a few days, the pelotari had already stated prior to the Manomanista final that he had received a reassuring message from the company regarding an outdated contract due to the accumulation of great results since his return to Baiko.

Laso confesses that «the renewal does not add pressure to me, but peace of mind. You will continue to see the same Laso as before. I am the same as before. I’ll play my way.” And he added a forceful phrase: «I prefer to earn a thousand txapelas more than renew contracts».