The news is still striking to say the least, a 63-year-old player “debuted” in the professional league. The protagonist is Dr., lawyer and judge from Bogotá, Octavio Carrillo. The event occurred in the game of Titanes Barranquilla vs Cóndores de Cundinamarca that the Barranquilla team won 106 x 80; corresponding to group A of the league.
The inclusion of the “veteran” player occurred for one (1) minute 45”, and in doing so, the record for longevity of a player on the field that Nat Hickey had worldwide, who played at almost 46 years of age, was broken. in the 1948 season in the United States. It is worth noting that the gringo of Croatian descent was coach of the Los Providence Steamrollers team and due to game circumstances he entered a single game in that league. He had previously been an active player in the incipient North American basketball tournaments of the time and which gave rise to the NBA.
Longevity in basketball should not be surprising, many of its players can be active until they are 40 years old or more, cases such as Álvaro Teherán (RIP) who played until he was 47 years old, the Chocoan Guido Mosquera, the Barranquilla Carlos Vengal and Gustavo Lindo de Armas who were in competition until they were in their forties.
In the current league Stalin Ortiz plays at 42 years old in Búcaros and Norbey Aragón at 44 years old shoots up the average age of “Tigrillos” Antioquia. Why the basketball player is so long-lived may be due to many causes, one of them being his love and discipline for his sport.
Now, the case of Mr. Octavio Carrillo breaks all records and should be looked at from several angles; Is it serious that such an elderly person plays in a high-performance professional league? The directors of Cóndores state that, when making an open call, he showed up like anyone else and passed all the tests, even surpassing young players! The Colombian professional championship does not have, so far, an age limit.
Some basketball leaders, fans and part of the press are still amazed and consider, the most vehement, that this is a mockery of the championship.
When consulting with the president of Cóndores, Luis Pardo, he considered that they never thought of going through this situation that has motivated the presence of Dr. Carrillo on the field of play and on the contrary they consider that the message that is sent should be handled as a invitation to practice the sport regardless of age.
The truth is that, although his inclusion is debatable, Carrillo’s performance is admirable, reaching that age and being able to compete at that level is something that many of us envy. Being able to fulfill his dream, postponed since his youth for different reasons, is still an achievement in his life project.
Surely this will lead the DPB to issue jurisprudence and regulate the maximum age for hiring professional players for their teams.
Incidentally, I am informed that there were anomalies in the game regarding the competition regulations and Cóndores will claim the corresponding points for that match. I am assured that what they will denounce publicly, and which rests on the tournament’s disciplinary committee, is much more serious than the presence of the veteran player in the woodwork and this fact, that of Dr. Carrillo, cannot be taken as a curtain to ignore something more serious that they as a team are reporting to the DPB.
@leadervillegas
2023-10-02 22:46:16
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