2021 was a special year for Corrientes Básquet in the Women’s League. He played the two editions that were disputed and in the second the final of the national contest arrived. “The balance is extremely positive, we are going to see if we can continue in the next season,” said Renato Novatti, coach of the Corrientes franchise who won the second port in the seventh edition of the tournament.
“The idea is that the project continues, investing in women’s basketball. Now we have to renew some places within the campus to try to go for more, but little by little, without crazy things, “said the DT who anticipated that” this continues, the leadership will put a lot of emphasis on maintaining the project. Even Eduardo Tassano (President of Regattas, one of the entities that supports the franchise) told me to think about putting together the squad to start training as soon as possible for the next League. January 10 would be the date to go back to training but we will see if there are any news in these days regarding the next edition of the competition ”.
Corrientes Básquet, which has the support of Regatas, San Martín and Mercedes Communications, all under the Federation’s orbit, planned to take its first step in the Women’s League in 2020, but the illusion was truncated by the coronavirus pandemic .
Therefore, the debut took place at the beginning of 2021 with a squad led by Diego Checenelli, while for the seventh edition, Novatti arrived with a new coaching staff.
“The first objective was to be in the top eight. Later, as the team grew, I saw the possibility of consolidating the squad with each girl fulfilling her role. Luckily, the girls got the message, they understood what we wanted to play and we went step by step, improving and we settled in the final ”.
“What was done this year was very good. For the second half, in just three months, with a change in the coaching staff and half the squad, the team evolved and we finished in second place. Reaching a final when our goal was to make the playoffs means that a good job was done and that makes us happy. This left the bar very high for the next season, “he acknowledged in an interview he gave to the program” Era porbajo “on Radio Unne.
For the second part of the season, “the objective was to build a team for the future. Strengthen the project to earn a place in the League. However, we were able to remain in the playoffs and beat very representative teams in women’s basketball in the country such as Florida or Obras himself, who we beat by 20 points in the semifinal and who had just won the Federal team a short time ago ”.
The competition was developed almost exclusively in the Federal Capital; however, Corrientes Básquet was able to play a couple of home games. “For us it was important because people supported the team by going to the field. The public was interested in going to see women’s basketball and that is good for the project ”.
Then came the definition against Berazategui and the closing of the tournament. “I am happy beyond the fact that the final was not won. We would have liked to be able to win it, but we played against a team that was superior to us, with a lot of experience in finals and with a longer squad than us ”.
“They come from playing almost all the finals of the tournament,” he added, “until that game they were unbeaten in 19 games and that shows the hierarchy they have in the team. On the other hand, we are maturing and trying to add minutes of level and experience in the League ”.
For the first-place match, “we made the girls aware that they had to leave everything in 40 minutes with a rotation shorter than that of Berazategui. They managed to play a great game until the third quarter. In addition to the merit of the rival, in that period there were some arbitration sanctions that left doubts. In two minutes we were already in penalty and that did not allow us to defend well. They conditioned us with personal fouls such as the case of Sofía Cabrera who reached the fourth “.
It was also decisive “the fatigue of (Agustina) Leiva, who had been doing a lot of damage near the rim, complicated because they were constantly changing the brand and that wore her down for the final moments.” Finally, he bet on the future for the Corrientes Básquet franchise and to consolidate the sport throughout the province. “Growth has to go from low to high, with internal competition getting stronger and involving more clubs.
Little by little, with five or six girls in the formations, but let’s add entities. I am going to present a project in the Association so that women’s basketball has a greater openness ”.
