After 13 years as physical trainer at the old CB Girona and two at Sant Josep, he has accompanied Marc Gasol since the beginning of the current club. On Saturday, during the break of the Girona-Breogán ACB game (8.45pm), the club will present the 350 players from its training teams.
He was one of the founders of the club, alongside Marc Gasol and Àlex Formento. Nine years later are they where they imagined?
We couldn’t imagine it. Of course you have a plan, a road map, and you visualize the path, but everything has gone very quickly. Our first big goal was to humbly try to offer optimal conditions for training and for young players to develop. When the senior later appeared, you already visualize something else, but I repeat, probably not so quickly. Two seasons ago an opportunity arose that we didn’t expect and we took advantage of it. I must also say that we have not only evolved with the seniors, we have evolved in social mass, number of players, the incorporation of women’s basketball… and all this in parallel with the growth of the first team.
On Saturday, the base teams are presented at the Girona-Breogán break. How many teams and players do they move?
We currently have 350 players, divided into 28 teams, plus the school. There are 11 women’s teams and 17 men’s teams. The women’s team comes as a result of the agreement with Uni Girona, we are very happy to have been able to do so. With the merger of CEB Girona, we had started the idea of women’s basketball, but there were few players, which is why we thought it was fantastic to have an agreement with Uni, which will have to be reviewed every three years. Our goal, as a club, is to try to develop players as much as possible, thinking about the sporting issue, but also about personal development. Basketball has very powerful values that can serve all players in the future for any situation in life.
What work methodology do they follow?
There are several areas. In terms of methodology, Miki Fuentes leads all those goals and game pillars in the different age groups. Then there are the sports directors, Marc Pena, in the men’s team, and Laia Palau and Pere Puig, in the women’s team. They monitor and propose the club philosophy. The performance area aims to improve the physical condition of the players, the medical area, with Jordi Sitjà, takes care of this aspect, and the physiotherapy area, with Laia Ventura and Beñat Garmendia, is also important. Pau Mas and Alex Latinjak are listed in the area of psychology, they support the accompaniment of aspects related to the players, their state of mind, and hold workshops with families and coaches. The psychological aspect is fundamental. This advice from experts is needed. Basketball is a sport of emotions and sensations, and we all have ups and downs and it is necessary to regulate and accompany it.
In which position in the Spanish ranking would you put the base of Basketball Girona?
It is difficult for me to answer, first of all, because we are a very young club. Our evolution in almost 10 years is satisfactory, good, because most U18 players can play in Copa Catalunya and this year we started the link with Salt for the EBA team. The level of the players has gone up. In the future the idea is to have more Pau Salas, to train with the first team and compete there. Regarding the women’s team, since we have only had two seasons, some U18s have gone to American universities, others to the GEiEG of Women’s League 2, the point is that we can give everyone an outlet and that we do it, if possible, in a basketball environment Girona
He spoke about Pau Sala, the first home player to make his ACB debut. When can we see more fruits of the base in the first team?
It’s a challenge, we’re not that far from achieving it. We are clear that if we continue to work with our methodological proposal, in the long run players for the first team will emerge from training basketball. Pau Sala is the first to make his ACB debut and there are sure to be more to come.
Can the escape of talents like Clàudia Acín be avoided?
Players play where they and their families want. Talent can always escape, and we have to live with that, even though we wish it would always stay at home.
They are supporters of tough outside male talent, if they don’t find it here, what has happened to the female with Lala Touré and Mama Sidiki?
In the agreement with Uni it is already specified that they can sign players from outside. They also see them in the first team and, in fact, both have already trained and played there. It is a vision that can bring them a qualitative leap. In the case of men, within the base, we are looking to strengthen other areas. In the future, it will be assessed if they are going to look for players outside of Girona because other issues need to be consolidated first.
What balance do you make of the integration of the base of the Uni?
We made a very good team. The women’s side is led by Laia Palau and Pere Puig, two people with experience and proven track record and of great value. Last year the U18 reached the Spanish championship playing a good role. The boys are taking small steps, we are getting closer to the top Catalan teams, we are starting to beat them. The U16 and U18 are in Preferent A, they are competing very well and in the future we will end up achieving some sporting challenge, such as going to a championship in Spain, which we have never done before. It’s also nothing to keep us awake, we can’t forget who we are and where we come from.
What are young players like today? Have they changed from twenty years ago?
There is everything, as before. Currently one of the challenges of the clubs is to try to involve these children and young people, that if he is here for a while playing and later he is a coach, this will also help him to form as a person, and even better if he achieves sporting challenges. Our pillars are effort, methodology and commitment, values that today’s society must instill. Making an effort in adverse situations, not when everything is going well, the commitment to put the interests of the group ahead of the individuals, knowing how to work in a team… these are things that society is increasingly asking for. It’s an important task we have with families, coaches, teachers, and more now that the use of screens and social media can distort reality. We try to ensure that mobile phone use is regulated when traveling and at matches. However, I will also tell you that we can learn a lot from young people.
What are the differences between the old CB Girona and the current Girona Basketball?
Many, everything has evolved, the way you train, how you get the information… it used to be a lot of performance, performance, performance, now you can analyze the evolution of load control with technology tools that advise trainers. We must not lose that subjective assessment of intuition and observation, because the moment we lose that, sport will be like cooking with a Thermomix. All information on technology tools must be completed with observation. I believe more and more in the emotional aspect of the players, it’s a key thing.
Which player has surprised you the most during your career?
It makes it difficult for me, there are several of them, perhaps the most relevant of those I have trained is Marc (Gasol). If the club exists it is thanks to him. Marc is a good example that with effort and talent you can achieve many things. We are clear about the challenges as an athlete and as a person. Having said that, I’ve had a lot of players with a good work ethic. Now they even have more means once the season is over to take care of themselves and follow their evolution by improving aspects of the game.
Next Saturday there will be a show again ????✊
????️ Day 18, 8:45 p.m
???? Río Breogán
???? Matchday 10
????️ Tickets here: https://t.co/kY5IGVmMIL
????????-????! ????⚪️ pic.twitter.com/028sBgQBeB— Basketball Girona (@BasquetGirona) November 11, 2023
2023-11-14 16:12:21
#Pau #Sala #base #arrive #ACB
