VALENCIA. The center of Valencia Basket and the Spanish team Raquel Carrera recognizes that going to the American WNBA “is complicated in the short term”, although she insists that “it is an experience” that she wants to “try” in the future, at the same time that she predicts a “special” Olympic Games in Paris, after the “big change” experienced by the national team since the event in Tokyo in 2021.
“I am very happy, if I opted for Valencia the first year I wanted to be a professional it was because I believed in their project and I knew they wanted to do many things. It is a club that bets on both the players and the youth team and has many girls, there are more of 500 children training here. Being their role models generates a lot of excitement,” said the player in an interview with Europa Press on the occasion of an event organized by Kellogg’s in L’Alqueria del Basket.
At 22 years old, Carrera has already accumulated 5 of them as a professional, after signing a five-year contract with Valencia Basket in 2019, when “no” you would believe everything he has been able to experience since then. “When you start playing basketball, you start as a ‘hobby’, for fun, I had a great time at school,” he said.
“And when they ask you more about it on a professional level, about moving house, about leaving at the age of 13 to live abroad, you have to think about it in a different way and ask yourself if you really want to be a professional and want to try it,” he said about his history of the Galician, who from the age of 13 went to live alone to start building the dream of being a professional player.
The young center explained that when she was offered the “opportunity at Celta” as a teenager, she didn’t think twice and accepted, thus beginning very early to play with much older players. “Already in Valencia, when I wanted to make the jump to First Division, it was also an important step not to go to the United States and stay here. Valencia made it very easy for me, with a 5-year contract and that guarantee that they believed in me, who believed in my project,” he praised.
And Carrera was chosen on April 15, 2021 in 15th place in the WNBA ‘Draft’, the best by a Spanish woman so far, by the Atlanta Dream – now her rights are owned by the New York Liberty – . However, the American dream will have to wait, at least for now. “I still have the door open to the WNBA, not in the short term, because I know it is complicated, but in the long term I still have it open and it is an experience that I want to try,” confessed the player from Orense.
However, Carrera did not say whether he will renew with the ‘taronja’ team, since he only has one season left on his current contract. “It’s a complicated question. Right now, I focus on Valencia, I’m comfortable, I have my home here, I’m with my family. I also prioritize the selection in competitions like the Games, the Eurobasket, the World Cup. And the WNBA that You don’t understand it, the European competitions…”, he argued.
What Carrera doesn’t want to change is his “competitive gene.” “It’s what often leads me to not think about the result or how the game is going. If you give it to me, I’m going to score it, because I want to win,” the Endesa Women’s League champion last year firmly stated and MVP of the final for the first domestic title in the history of the ‘taronja’ club.
“THIS SELECTION ALWAYS COMPETES, THE QUINTET THAT COMES OUT WILL PERFORM”
Carrera has also seen how his contribution has grown in the Spanish team, with a much more leading role. After a journey through the youth categories, in which she made her debut in the U-17 World Cup at the age of 14, the Galician donned the senior jersey in the summer of 2021.
A dream fulfilled, but not with the expected results, since they suffered seventh place in the Eurobasket held in France and Valencia that prevented them from being in the 2022 World Cup. Some consequences that increased in the Tokyo Games, in which they fell in quarter finals. Two hits that accelerated the “big change” that the team needed, now with Miguel Méndez in command.
“The most important thing is that we all want the same thing, that we are all going to go to one and that we are going to continue preparing. We have a lot of time to continue getting to know each other and continue playing. When it comes to understanding each other it is also easier, and when you have the same objectives, competing and winning because that is what will guide us,” he commented on the ingredients to continue progressing, already with the ticket to Paris 2024 in his pocket.
An Olympic passport that they obtained in the Sopron Olympic Qualifiers (Hungary), before competing in the third game against the hosts, after Canada lost to Japan (82-86). “We achieved it by beating Canada, we had to win and we won that match that was very important for us, after a defeat against Japan that was tough,” he recalled.
“I think you experience it differently. We experienced the game against Hungary differently than against Canada, but always competing. You always want to win, we are very happy,” she added about getting a ticket to the Games before jumping to play the last clash against the hosts.
Carrera evoked the “complicated basketball” that Japan proposed to them in the first match in the Pre-Olympic, in which they lost. “They play basketball too fast that we are not used to. They score a lot from outside, they scored 47 points from three-pointers, it was outrageous. It was a complicated game for everyone, but it was the first, the one that helps you adapt and if it catches you Well, you win, and if you don’t get it, then bad luck,” he analyzed.
“Our greatest strength is that we compete in every game, that the quintet you put together you know is going to perform, because we all want the same thing and that is to win. In addition to the enthusiasm that we transmit on and off the court,” he highlighted about the current group.
A squad in which Megan Gustafson aims to be key. “It’s easy with Megan by your side, because she does everything, she has a shot, within the ‘paint’ too… She can contribute a lot, she opens up the court and the field for you and she is a player who understands basketball. She helped us a lot in the Pre-Olympic and will help us in the future,” he praised.
In that future, the next big stop is the Paris Games this summer – from July 26 to August 11 – an event that generates “excitement” in Carrera. “For living that experience with the athletes that you see from other sports that you admire, all competing for the same thing: to win in our sport and have more medals for Spain,” he expressed.
“It’s nice, you come together, it’s like a family, all together. In addition, these Games are more special due to the fact that, not having COVID, you can have an audience, and experiencing them with a full pavilion is something nice,” he predicted. the player.
2024-02-29 10:18:45
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