The Hispanic rises from the ashes. The Piedras Blancas club presented its 18 teams this Thursday, the highest number in recent years, seeking to consolidate a future project in which the new Ferrota facilities acquire a prominent role. At the head of the club, as president is José Manuel Serén, who is completing his eighth season in office and is looking forward to the new stage. “Last season was very stopped, for everything related to the covid-19 and the works of Ferrota, but in the current one we managed to reactivate the lower teams. Proof of this is that we have more than even before the pandemic ”.
In total there are 18 teams, led by the First Regional, up to the initiation team, without forgetting the veterans. The new facilities of Ferrota, whose works began in November 2019 and ended last May, with an investment of almost two million euros, are the basis for the expansion of a club that during the last two years was forced to play in San Juan de La Arena and in San Esteban de Pravia. “It was a great effort for us to travel, since there was no field available in the region. Only the Regional teams were able to play in Raíces ”. For this reason, the president considers that being able to use the new Ferrota “is a luxury. Before, with a natural grass pitch it took us a long time to take care of it and it was never in optimal condition. Now, we have a state-of-the-art synthetic grass and its maintenance is handled by the City Council. We only pay for the rent ”.
El Hispano manages a budget of 90,000 euros this season, which is mostly covered by the fees of the players, partners, sponsors, raffles … You have to work hard to balance the budget. “It is like a small business. Every month we have to face expenses that are around 4,000 euros ”, says the president. Regarding the sporting objectives, José Manuel Serén has them clear. “In the case of the Regional, maintain the category, taking into account that out of thirteen teams, five more tows are down. We have been in this category for eight years and taking the leap to the top is costing us. In the rest, we have some teams with options to go up, but everything that is not going down is important ”.
José Manuel Serén does not hide that the proudest thing he feels is “of the growth of the lower teams. There are more and more. We have around 230 players and that for a club like Hispano has a lot of merit and more after a season in which the pandemic limited us a lot. Many players chose to leave it, the sponsors dropped… As the economy is, taking a club forward costs a great job ”.
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