Editorial Office.- A new era is about to begin in the Mexican women’s basketball team, which will have a Guanajuato touch, thanks to Jonathan Villegas and Alejandra Arellano.
The man born in the capital Guanajuato, as head coach, and the native of the city of León, as technical assistant, lead the national team that will prepare over the next few months to participate in the COCABA (Central American Basketball Confederation) tournament, to be played between July 13 and 18.
Jonathan Villegas will be responsible for leading this project that aims to relocate the women’s national team to the international level, abandoned in recent years and which caused it not to participate in the 2021 Centrobasket, a fact that led to the impossibility of playing the 2021 AmeriCup and its time the option to fight for a ticket to qualify for the Women’s Basketball World Cup Australia 2022.
The Guanajuato coach himself announced the formation of his technical staff, which is made up of Alejandra Arellano and Felipe Becerra as assistants, Ángel Fernández as associate coach, Jhovanny García in the link with minor categories, Alberto Alcocer as doctor, Taine Ramírez as psychologist, Sharim Arizqueta as nutritionist, Miguel Barraza as physical trainer and Héctor Dorado, also from Guanajuato, as physiotherapist.
Although at the moment a shortlisted list has not been announced, the intention is that it will be made up mostly of youth teams that have given excellent results, such as the U16 and U18 categories, which obtained their pass to the U17 World Cup and U19, respectively, to be played this year, in addition to experienced players in international leagues such as Myriam Lara and Diana Armas, and university basketball players such as Gabriela Jaquez. In the case of Jaqueline Luna-Castro and Hazel Ramírez, a solution will be sought for the problem of having only one player with the status of naturalized.
On behalf of the Mexican players, Myriam Lara Ackerman, player of the Romanian club CSM Alexandría, spoke. “All the players dream of this moment, in which it will be announced that we can once again represent our country doing what we love the most. Congratulations to coach Jonathan on his appointment, he deserves it for all the work he has done for women’s basketball,” emphasized the also Mieleras de Guanajuato player in the LMBPF.
«Congratulations Jonathan, you deserve this opportunity, you have worked for her for a long time and I know you are the right person for this. You have the respect of the community and the players for whom you have done a great job. I express my support to the players, and as I promised since I was appointed director of national teams, that we are working very hard so that their return to an official tournament is in the best conditions, “emphasized Omar Quintero.
As part of the preparation for COCABA, they will seek to tour with the women’s team in the United States, South America or Europe, with the aim of increasing international contact with the players and making a leap in quality.
