“We have fought a lot and the year you least expected it, you get it”

Cristina Cantero Ostos (Cabra, Córdoba, 1978) will go down in history as the coach who returned to Celta to the elite of women’s basketball eleven years later and after a hard journey in the desert. The day after celebrating the promotion, Cantero highlights the atmosphere of the pavilion of ship as a fundamental factor for the team to overcome the hard moments and win the two games that led to Women’s League while commenting that it was the year that the category jump was least expected. From this long journey, it stands out that the club supported the project by maintaining its hallmarks, which he hopes to also implement on his return to the elite. does not hide his desire to continue on the bench.

“How do things look the day after a promotion?”

—Answering messages and, through them, you realize what has happened. What was lived in Navia was an accumulation of everything: the atmosphere, the emotion of the game, a packed pavilion and how the people have lived it. You left Navia and you met the parents of the quarry children and some were crying with emotion. It was a blast. On a sporting level, we are very happy, because it is what we have fought for for many years and perhaps the year you least expect it, you get it. We were doing well, but we were not favourites.

—Was playing the phase at home key to promotion?

“Honestly, I think so. We discussed it with the coaching staff on Sunday. As the two games were, away from home we didn’t win them, that’s the feeling we have. The pavilion pushed a lot in bad moments. We were talking about whether the environment was going to impose on the young players and it was the opposite, the pavilion pushed them and we had the two most effective matches abroad.

—The triple recital of the two days was decisive.

“Especially the first day. Winning Alcobendas required something special and it was like that. Shooting 15 for 25 is not easy, but we would see the rim as a pool. And in the final, Regina had an amazing last quarter.

—The critical moment was the third quarter of the final?

-Yeah. She knew that we were going to have a final trick, because she saw them tired, but Flórez appeared, who is a born competitor with a lot of talent and had bloody eyes. I said to myself: ‘Bad business’, because we were not stopping it well. I saw him annoyed, but they took four rental points and we reacted with a triple that gave us a point of calm.

—When did you see the game won and the promotion in your pocket?

—When there were 40 seconds left and they threw in the towel.

What does promotion mean to you on a personal level?

—The feeling I have is of pride of mine, of those of us who are in Navia every day. The people who were in the pavilion every day, the two Carlos (Álvarez, the president, and Colinas, the sports director), who work hard, and people from the board of directors who do obscure work that cannot be seen.

—Did you have a journey of 11 years in the second category?

—Not that long, but sport is like that. When you rebuild yourself, the process is long if you want to do things right and we haven’t forgotten who we are and how we like to do things and maintain our identity along the way. Even after being in the second division for many years, we have been a nationally recognized club, we have not stopped being a big club, with all that it means, not only at a sporting level.

“And now a radical change awaits you.”

—Now you have to take a few days of air, but you have to work hard, because the change is very big. What I have in mind is that there will be a lot of change, because the league demands it of you, but you have to maintain the entity and do things well. We will try to make the best squad possible and then dedicate ourselves to working and competing.

—Will it be the coach in the Women’s League?

—I hope so, but we will have to sit down with the president (laughs).