To those who complain about basketball in Gijón

Sending darts continuously from the sofa in our homes is easy, free and above all, harmful

My name is Eduardo, surely hardly anyone knows who I am, and that has been my intention and interest for the last four years, three within the Gijón Basket board and the last one helping with the administrative part of the senior teams and advising on what the club demanded. Four years working altruistically to try to carry out a club project, taking hours from my family, my free time and especially my nights, because yes, the management of a club, despite being an amateur, takes many , many hours and takes a lot of sleep. I do not represent anyone, I do not speak for anyone, I speak for myself, but like me, another 16/20 people, fathers and mothers of youth players for the most part, have been at the foot of the canyon during this time, suffering almost always, and with hardly a moment of joy, from the president, to the last person who helped us to put up posters, take photos at matches, prepare trips, chips, tournaments…. Chapeu for all of them.

I only express what I think after these years and the continuous criticism, almost always negative, of the local basketball management. Opinion is totally legal, criticizing, with a real basis, acceptable, but continuously sending darts from the sofa in our houses is easy, free and above all, harmful. People who have had to juggle with a very short budget to be able to build a competitive senior team, scarce public aid, I’m not questioning them, I’m just saying that they don’t arrive, nor come close, to be able to get their head out of an EBA category, which 136 teams start and only 6 manage to ascend. Something more on the part of those responsible for local government would not hurt, and I am not just talking about money, I do not observe real interest in the growth of basketball in Gijón.

Regarding the private support, especially from local businesses, which do what they can with the reality that we are living and which are vital for us, I can only be grateful, most of the time they have been and are a basic pillar for the subsistence of dozens of clubs in Gijón. On the contrary, the large regional companies that prefer to sponsor in Madrid rather than in the region.

It is also easy to criticize the Círculo Gijón and Ignacio Galán as much or more than our club, but despite the different approaches that there may be in terms of club philosophy, you have to have a lot of strength and morale to throw “go ahead” season after Season listening only to comments when things don’t work out. Easy to shave not to do a joint project, all easy from the sofa.

I invite these people to come to Ranón on a Thursday at 12:00 p.m. to pick up a player, take him to Gijón, accommodate him, and the next day, like me, it’s not their turn to get up at 6:00 a.m. to go to work , training until 11:00 p.m. four days a week, after working hours in most cases, going to visit dozens of potential sponsors and being told no, spending a season and a half doing 1 or 2 COVID tests every week and report to FEB, to try to get the best possible coaches for our youth academy, manage clothes for 100 youngsters from the youth academy 40/60 from schools plus senior teams, I could go on with a thousand things but it would be very boring.

To all those people who complain about how bad things are done, I invite you to approach the management and see first-hand the day to day, the club has issued an official statement in which it literally says “the current board is open to the collaboration of all partners and supporters” and as far as I know, no one has responded to this letter.

I want to extrapolate this reality to other clubs that I know and I know how they work, just like we have mortgaged their weekends for the love of basketball, Noega, Pumarín, Arbeyal and for that I thank them, their work is priceless, I’m sure they will I forgot someone, my apologies.

With all this, I only look for an end, what is not told, unfortunately it does not exist and therefore it is not done, and that is not the case, there are many hours of work, when one season ended the next begins, registrations, players , tokens, it’s a continuous cycle, I just ask for a little empathy, a little understanding and support (there are also those who give it to us) for local and regional sport, and above all for the people who live and suffer from it, not only in basketball, in practically all sports with grassroots teams, today nobody, nobody lives from management, it is neither their job nor their main method of income. Please, let’s add, support, help, it’s the only formula, otherwise we’ll end up throwing in the towel and give up and unfortunately we’ll continue living on the memory of basketball from 25 years ago.

I encourage anyone who wishes to discuss the subject with me, I am sure that any contribution will be positive in both directions.