The adapted ball, in the modalities of intellectual and physical disabilities, continues to make progress and this season will have a Basque circuit for the first time. … The initiative starts with the objectives of “giving visibility and attracting athletes who practice another adapted sport,” according to its promoter, Iker Amarika. The championships will be held in the three territories and will have a first eliminatory phase in both categories, from which the finalists will emerge. The calendar will begin on February 22 with the Bizkaia Open at the Mallabia fronton, and Basauri will host the summit clashes on March 1.
In Gipuzkoa, Lasarte-Oria and Zumarraga will be the venues on March 28 and April 12, respectively, while Álava will take place in the frontons of Amurrio –September 28– and Laudio –October 12–. The organizers plan to bring together around fifty pelotaris in each of them. “In each tournament, all interested parties can register on the website www.epeirekia.eus,” he added.
In both modalities the tool that will be used will be the wooden or carbon paddle. In intellectual disabilities it will be played with a tennis ball, while in physics with a low-pressure racquetball with two bounces. “In the latter, which is contested in a wheelchair, people who do not have any injuries will also be able to participate,” he stressed. The circuit is endorsed by the International Pelota Federation, the Basque Federation and the three territorial ones.
“Let it be visible”
The adapted pelota began its journey in 2018 in Gipuzkoa with pelotaris from that province “because there were still no pelotaris clubs or licenses in Bizkaia and Álava. From then on, different entities began to be created and the possibility of adapted ball was introduced into existing ones,” Amarika noted.
The presentation, held this Thursday at the EITB headquarters, was attended by numerous participating pelotaris such as Gorka Álvarez from Biscay, who assessed the new circuit “as quite correct due to the fact that it touches the three territories, for equality.” «Adding tournaments is always good because we train a lot and play little. In addition to competing, it will also serve to give more visibility and become more of a social mass in the near future,” he said. The president of the Adapted Sports Federation of Bizkaia, Aitor González, for his part stressed that “it is a modality that is growing. But sport for us does not begin on the court, but with someone who gives us the opportunity to practice it. “Let there be many initiatives like this in all modalities and let it be made visible.”
