MADRID, 24 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB), Elisa Aguilar, does not hide that the balance of this year 2023, in which she acceded to the presidential chair replacing Jorge Garbajosa, is “very emotional”, especially because of the reunion ” with those generations that laid the first stone” for Spanish basketball to continue at the top.
“It is an emotional balance of the year, of pride in belonging to this Federation and this ‘Family’. Of all these months, I think the most important thing is that we have been able to meet again with those generations who laid the first stone so that today we are what we are. We are: number 2 in the men’s world ranking and number 4 in the women’s world ranking,” Aguilar expressed on the FEB website.
The leader highlighted the “historical milestone” of Pau Gasol, whom she considers the “best player” in national basketball, entering the NBA and FEB Hall of Fame, but also for “the retirement of his jersey.” the Lakers in Los Angeles. “The truth is that we are proud that Pau enters our history in such an important way and, as always, setting the pace for others,” she said.
The former player was grateful that Slovenia and the United States “wanted to be” in the Centennial Tournament. “Having the world stars come made the tournament have a special touch, and it was also a special recognition for our players for the effort they have been making, not only this year, but also for all previous generations. In Malaga we breathed basketball, we lived together good morning, and that is the most important thing,” he stressed.
Aguilar warned that in the Mundobasket the men’s team was going with “every expectation of going as far as possible, which lately tends to be podiums” and was “satisfied” despite not qualifying for the quarterfinals. “I had the opportunity to be there and we gave everything. The positive reading is that we qualified for the Pre-Olympic, and that we have the possibility in July of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games,” she remarked.
Things were happier for the women in the Eurobasket, where they won the silver medal after starting a new project with Miguel Méndez. “When you have a difficult moment like being left out of the World Cup, you have to rebuild the team. But it is true that, since we work from a very early age, all the training players gradually enter the Absolute and it is important how Miguel brought the entire team together, how he determined the role of each one of them,” he celebrated.
“A clear example is the Eurobasket that we were able to experience in the summer, in which we won a silver medal and where we narrowly missed the gold. But more important than the medal, which is important because that is what we play for and we like to win, it is the hope that we have in the short and medium term with this generation, which I think is going to give us a lot of joy,” Aguilar added.
“A World Cup at home was not easy. It is always nice to play at home, but the pressure is much more, and at these ages you never know how they can manage it. But they managed it as if they had been playing for twenty-five years, and the truth is that, Looking at both the men’s U-19 and the women’s U-19, the future is exciting,” he continued about the successes of the lower categories, with the world title for the boys and the bronze for the girls.
In addition, the men’s team repeated the historic success of the ‘golden juniors’ of Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, José Manuel Calderón and Felipe Reyes. “You are very excited because it is not easy for those generations to leave. You see that they are young, but with things very clear, with an implication of wanting to continue coming to the national team because for them it is ‘the Family’, they are a group of friends “That says a lot about how the Federation works and is an important piece for it to be very successful in the near future,” said the leader.
At the national level, he referred to the “support of the fans” and the “basketball festival” that was the Queen’s Cup and the signing of the new Collective Agreement in women’s basketball. “We evidently consider, together with the clubs and the players, that their labor rights have to be covered. And the support of the Higher Sports Council, from which we are committed to providing financial support for both the players and the clubs. We are very happy because We had been trying to sign this agreement for some time, and this is an important stone for the growth of the competition,” he explained.
“I sincerely believe that we are the best League in Europe, that we are going to continue growing and adding. And I want to thank all the efforts made by the clubs and the players,” he admitted, also pointing out his satisfaction for an LEB Gold that he finds “very attractive.” at all levels.” “At the European level it is much better than many of the first national ones,” confessed Elisa Aguilar who remembers that “basketball has very good things, and one of them is the desire for consensus and growth.”
2023-12-24 10:31:03
#emotional #balance #year
