In the end the tears turned out to be tears of happiness. It’s been a month since Eric Vila made the dream he had when he was a child come true: Girona was in the ACB and not only that but they did it with him as a player. He wanted to recapture the great nights in Fontajau and, why not, to do it from inside the track, especially he who had spent so many on the stand following the Akasvayu unconditionally. “He was a hooliganhe lived it like no one else”, explains his mother Esther Vila. She remembers, nostalgically, how Eric had to say goodbye to that time with resignation because the club that had stolen his heart had gone bankrupt. It was of no use to demonstrate in the streets of the city to claim its continuity or to “burst the trumpet (which he usually used to encourage) with so much honking and shouting” to try to avoid the worst outcome. Akasvayu would disappear in 2008 and with him Eric’s dream. What he had never imagined was that fourteen years later he would end up fulfilling it by being one of its architects. L’aler pivot bescanoni signed for Básquet Girona in the summer of 2021. He was returning home to play in LEB Or after a complicated period due to an injury he sustained in the United States and thanks to constant effort and sacrifice – he behaves exactly the same as when he was 10 years old – he would form part of Girona basketball history returning Girona to the ACB. But the dream doesn’t just stop here because Eric wants to continue improving and progressing to the elite. He doesn’t lack ambition. Not talented either. And everyone agrees that it is in the best hands to exploit it, alongsideAito Garcia Reneses i Marc Gasol.
“He was a bit of an introvert, but little by little he opened up. He finished the season very happy, he was a good teammate and very generous on the court. The difference in age was not noticeable at all, despite the fact that he was pre-child and played with a mini card”, he comments Thomas Brea. He was one of Eric’s first coaches and who convinced him to play at the Saint Joseph after starting school and having doubts about whether or not to continue with basketball. He would be there for just one year because Barça would sign him in 2010. “Apart from being tall, he was very good technically. He dominated both hands, the ball, the boot, provided security and had a vision of the game… He made his teammates better. It was also noticeable that he likes to be part of a group», he says. And he adds: “He has always had a winning character. In a Catalan Championship we were fighting for 3rd and 4th place after Joventut eliminated us and the game was very even… In the timeout, Eric told me he wanted the last play. That’s how it was. He went all the way down the court and gave us the winning basketball. It was clear to me there that I would go far. It’s not every day that the smallest member of the team takes on all the responsibility…».
It was relatively recently that Eric had become somewhat disillusioned with basketball following the disappearance of Akasvayu. His family had three season tickets between his mother and grandfather and were combining to go to the matches. The only pass that was always awarded was Eric’swith the number 9,967, which never missed a single one with Akasvayu’s trumpet, scarf and ball – which is now signed by Marc Gasol. Neither did his sister, Villa Key, but due to his age he did not need a subscription. “Match days have always been very special at home. We prepare hours before and bring everything to cheer. We live it with great emotion”, says Clau. She is five years younger than Eric and her memories are a bit hazy, although “mum always tells me that I used to run around Fontajau and we played on the track because my dad liked it a lot, he always wanted to go there”.
He also keeps good moments from his childhood Paula Cuadrado. She is his best friend since Eric left for Barça. “We were friends, he was childish, but today he is still the same Eric I knew as a child. He’s a good friend, a hard worker, a go-getter, down-to-earth and the only thing he’s changed is being a better player. Now that he’s grown up on the court, he knows himself better and knows how to get the most out of his skills. I admire him because he’s a guy who sets goals and goes after them despite the bumps along the way. We have always kept in touch, even if the distance separated us like when he was in the United States”, says Paula.
The coaches talk about Eric’s time at Barça Alex Teres i Marc Calderon. “I have a very vivid and special memory of Éric. He was very talented and pointed manners, with a taste for spectacular basketball, but his body did not let him stand out. It was very long and thin and it didn’t fit her. We spent a lot of time making him understand that in the future, when he got stronger, every little obstacle that frustrated him then would end up being another step towards becoming a professional. As a coach, you see many players pass away, but you remember Eric,” says Terés. Calderon has the same opinion: “I have been training at the quarry for years and Eric was one of the players who was clear that he would succeed in becoming a professional. With his height, many couldn’t dunk the ball or shoot threes and he did. His physical development process may have been slower because he was not a strong player, but Barça bet strongly on him.”
Eric became the youngest player to debut with Barça in the ACB at 16 years and six months. It still holds that status. However, after six years at La Masia in 2016, he decided to go to the United States, once he passed the selection process with good grades, to study and continue his career as a player. I was 18 years old. “I lost track of him because he didn’t have continuity, but he pointed very much to an ACB player. He was one of the best I’ve ever trained”, confesses Calderon. The pivotal winger from Bescanón would face the cruelest side of the sport after suffering an injury. And the distance, as much as it seems like an inconvenience, would strengthen the relationship with his closest circle. “Normally in the teenage years, siblings don’t get along very well, but the opposite happened to me. We always got along super well and hardly ever got angry. Then I was in Madrid, which I also left to play basketball, and he called me every day from the United States. When I was in Barcelona, we always went there”, says Clau. She now plays with Quart a Segona Catalana. As you can see, basketball has been one of the reasons why their bond is so strong. “We have a basket at home and we spend the day throwing. We still use it”, he says.
The same has happened with Paula. “After so many years and a lot of distance in between, the relationship we have is very special. He’s still an ACB player and has a full schedule, but he’s a wonderful person, he’s like a brother to me, and he continues to be a 10 with me and his family and mine. I love him very much”, he says. Paula has followed Eric everywhere. Even, “when he wasn’t there, he stayed with his mother to go to her house to watch him on TV”. Like everyone around Eric, she is passionate about basketball and became a member of Girona during training at LEB Plata. Paula’s reaction to learning that Eric was coming home was incredible: “I was very happy.” And now that he can see it up close at the ACB… “I’m seriously envious that he can dedicate himself to it. His dream had always been to return home. As a child I dreamed of playing in Fontajau. It’s a beast that he succeeded. For me it is a pleasure to live these moments by his side and to know that he has very clear goals. I’ve always told him that I’ll follow him wherever he goes, but he’s trying to work and fight for what he wants. It represents the pride of Girona basketball in Fontajau», he assures.
Everyone agrees that Eric had ACB player wood. He’s had a lot of work to do, and maybe he didn’t really get there until he was 24, but he’s currently showing that he can establish himself there. “He arrived at the ACB when he was ready. It makes me very happy to see him in Girona and recognize the movements he made when we had him at the Masia. For him it is lucky to be at home, with Aíto and Marc. Also with Pol (they were teammates at Barça). All in all, it’s a very cute match”, points out Tarés. While Calderon tells the story of when he was Aíto’s assistant at La Penya: “He taught me a backhand move, 31, which I then taught Eric. When I saw him do it in a game this season…, I was very amused. We haven’t done it since we were cadets.” For his part, Brea is clear that “he will eat the world when he lets go”. “The best move against Madrid was Éric’s block to Claver. He has the skills to do everything he sets his mind to”, he concludes.
