In 2018 the Castilla-La Mancha Basketball Federation was experiencing moments of true chaos. After managing to overcome the dark period of Ramón Granados, the situation did not improve with his successor and José Esteban Gálvez took on the challenge of taking the presidency with the aim of raising basketball in the region, which due to different circumstances was at a minimum in every sense. . The nearly 900,000 euros of debt have been settled, the clubs have returned to competitions and the number of licenses has increased from 8,000 this year to 11,500. It is not strange that a few months ago regional basketball opted for another four years of the east of Albacete at the head of the Federation along with his work team.
He caught the Federation of Castilla-La Mancha in a regrettable situation and it seems that the panorama has changed a lot.
Of course it has changed. From 2020, which was the first re-election, until 2024 the change has been mainly economic, because the debt situation required it. But there has also been a sporting change, going from 8,000 to 11,500 licenses in the last year and that is a job for the entire basketball family in the region. Once the problems have been overcome, these next four years are about making a qualitative leap at all levels, with more projects, more sporting events, opening up more at the national level and, of course, continuing to strengthen our basketball.
One of its objectives was to be able to help the clubs financially when the Federation exceeded its debt. Is it being done?
Theoretically that is not the job of a Federation, but I was clear that if at some point we were financially healthy, that could have an impact in some way on the clubs. We have been helping junior clubs for two years with around 20,000 euros a year for travel, we have helped the FEB teams that have qualified for promotion phases in a concentration model. We have helped the junior teams that have gone to the Spanish championships with 800 euros to cover some of the expenses they may have, less than we would like, but I think it is an important starting point and that is where we want to contribute, although it is not our objective as a Federation. Our job is to offer arbitrations, medical insurance, coordinate competitions, mobilize and energize youth sports, but I believe that this financial aid was necessary for the clubs. We have also moved the youth team a lot, organizing many tournaments and competitions to help their growth.
How have you tried to energize the quarry?
All competitions for juniors and below are organized by the Community Board with its school-age sports program and we thought that we should offer an alternative to those clubs that have many teams with a competitive projection and have other needs. Hence we created the Benjamín Circuit or the Alevine Championships, with the aim of playing more games with a model more similar to current basketball, with a stopped clock or with more quarters.
More information in the printed edition and in the APP of La Tribuna de Albacete (https://latribunadealbacete.promecal.es)
