Córdoba, 0 degrees, midwinter…
The WhatAapp group is quiet, until the first message goes off.
“Do you train, teacher?” asks one of its many members. The answer does not take long to arrive. “We never stop. I’ll wait for you all at 7:30 p.m., responds Eduardo Larghi, a graduate in Physical Education and a highly recognized physical trainer who gave Córdoba football.
“Edu” worked for 20 years in Talleres, between the youth teams and First Division until he became head of the area (there were 12 seasons). Then, he accompanied Mauricio Caranta’s initial experience at the Institute, went on to the Professional League as part of Diego Flores’ coaching staff at Godoy Cruz, until he returned to the Alta Córdoba club to fulfill AFA reserve duties.
At around 7:30 p.m., there will be training at the Elenia complex, the chosen location. In the synthetic there are cones, ribbons, bands, balls, snow water falls and the thermal sensation is -2 degrees.
There are no excuses. Little by little, the girls are arriving. Rafael, Santiago, Andrés, “Lucho”, Damiano, Demian, Leo; then, “the Ninja” Javier, Carlos, Juan Manuel, Eduardo, Matías I and II, Mario, Eduardo, Luisao, Sebastián, Gustavo, Diego, Andrés, Ronald, Martín and everyone.
They come from different teams and different championships, such as Campa, Ucfa, Abogados, Contadores, etc. Or the biggest team in the world. Which is it? The one of those who have been playing forever. That of those who want to continue doing it, without getting injured in the attempt.
They are arriving, little by little. They cross the fence and each one sets a place to put the bag.
Historical and new, twenty-somethings, 30, 40 and over 50. They dress in thermals, two pants or the first thing they found. The clothing is of various colors. Black and blue predominate, some with T-shirts from Talleres, Belgrano, Instituto, Racing, Juniors, Boca, River, Independiente, Huracán, Barcelona and Real Madrid, etc.
It’s the same. In short, when you warm up, the clothes begin to fly until you are left with only one shirt. What doesn’t change is the passion for the game. It’s what’s inside.
They are not professionals, as already said, but “Edu” trains them as such. From time to time, someone or someone who recently retired appears. But the stable girls are purely amateur.
It’s cold. The breath freezes.
What motivates them to be there with such temperatures? That many of them hated training? Why does it seem beautiful to you now?
“Football belongs to everyone and no one. It was, is and will continue to be beautiful. But it is much better if you can enjoy it. That’s the new thing. Training makes you competitive and prevents injuries. Victory is being able to continue playing. Whether in an amateur league, in its different categories or to go play the game with friends and even with your children. Performing stretching and joint mobility exercises, strength exercises, warming up well before each game is vital to be able to continue playing. There are people who trained to play in their lives, but got the hang of it. Others who did it when they were younger, stopped and started again,” says Larghi, who trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The night shift starts at 7:30 p.m. and the morning shift starts at 7:30 a.m. These spaces are part of the Football Academy that Larghi created in the new Elenia complex, where the football school, goalkeeper training and specific training sessions attended by federated amateur and professional players also operate to improve their performance.
“Hey teacher. I saw City warm up. “It’s how it’s done here,” says Demian.
What does the training consist of? Warm-up, stretching of different muscle groups, joint mobility exercises, strength, speed, technical physical work, tactical concepts, resistance with and without the ball, rondos, reduced and everything that a professional player does but with a different intensity.
“Give it Juliooooo,” the “teacher” shouts.
It’s a classic. Julio comes from working at Coca or splits the day so as not to miss training. He is almost always accompanied by his children, who are an arrow. He will do a shorter warm-up and other exercises to engage with the group, later. The group works with everything. It is neither cold nor hot. There are no buts. There is only the challenge of physical effort and how to value it.
“Bridgeeeeeee”, several ask for those who arrived late but, this time, there will be an exception. It seems that this punishment will only remain for the new ones or those who returned. They will be the ones who pass below the human formation in which they will receive some “caresses” on the back as baptism.
There is no more talking, the demand comes. The teacher, who arrived a while ago, filled a field with cones, discs, fences and ribbons. The cold will go away quickly, there will be significant agitation.
Larghi has a team of collaborators that includes his friend Paulo Garletti (also one of the best that Plaza Córdoba gave and who accompanied Darío Franco for many years) plus the young Alejandro, Agustín, Ignacio and Lucas Navarro (player and teacher of Argentino Peñarol ), who are in the morning
“Edu” pilots this initiative that made him one of the pioneers of this “train to play” phenomenon…
Not everyone is at the same level, but professionals will make an adaptation. Even for those who come with some muscle discomfort. Progress is seen, the fight is equal against oneself.
And that is winning.
For them, nothing matters more than getting to Tuesday and Thursday. With water, snow or extreme heat, with rain or sun, wind and stillness, we train all year round in all seasons of the year.
“Pecherasssss!!!”, “the teacher” shouts and everything starts to get nice. The “fundamentals” are coming. It’s time to learn to control the round, shape yourself better and give security to your passes.
“You always learn in football. It’s like in life,” says Larghi. Not played? Yes, yes. It will be in the last 20 minutes. It’s a while. Passes, spikes and jumps is what follows. Then comes the game. Brief, but good, intense and particular. These are two teams of seven or eight that must cross the middle of the field in order to score or so that the rival’s goal is not worth double.
The variant is very demanding: chases throughout the field. “You suaaaata,” everyone says. Without exception.
It is the last effort. The expected competition. There will be no losers, only one day won.
Explodes
Chronicle and image are repeated in various sectors of the city. There are more than a hundred groups that train in the morning, much more in the afternoon and not to mention at night. Costanera, Sarmiento Park, Nations, Las Heras, San Martín, neighborhood squares; soccer complexes, in fields of seven, nine and 11; on boulevards, taking advantage of the grass in their flowerbeds.
One or two teachers, leading a group of five, 10, 20 and up to 30 people, in which players of all ages coexist. Or almost. Not everyone will be able to do the same exercises, but there will be adaptations. Exercise is good fuel to go to work the next day thinking about playing on the weekend and starting the countdown until the new training session. The cost is affordable. Between 20 and 35 thousand pesos per month.
There are no statistics to measure this phenomenon, but it is clear that there is an explosion.
The insertion of professionals is increasing and also specific. Juan Carlos Olave and Esteban González had put together a project on the Las Palmas property for free players. It was delayed a little because “Juanca” went to direct Racing and “Tete” was the alternate coach of Gimnasia LP, but now they resumed it.
Further? Before leaving for Rosario Central, Alexis Olariaga, another respected professional from Córdoba with international contact, also considered “training to play.”
Alexis accompanied Alexander Medina at Inter de Porto Alegre and Vélez, after his first management at Talleres. Olariaga, with steps through Belgrano, Racing and Chilean soccer, was based at the Quality gym.
And women’s football?
In another Close Up, the phenomenon of women’s soccer schools in Córdoba was discussed, but little is known about groups of free players of different ages who train under the orders of a physical trainer. “The practices are mostly of teams that do have a coach and PF, but little is known about group training with women of different ages, whether or not they compete in amateur leagues. This is not what happens with men, but sooner rather than later that will begin to happen,” said Fernando Agüero, coordinator of the Women’s Soccer League (Lifufe).
“You see personal trainers with groups of two and three girls. It’s something incipient. That it is for different ages is something that will develop in the not too distant future. But it is clear that, at a certain age, you have to train to be able to continue playing,” Agüero added.
“The truth is that there are no groups that do specific soccer training other than those that play in amateur teams. We do it, for adults, but the majority don’t play in external tournaments. There are not all ages. If you start with us and then you can leave. But the majority go to train and have a good time, and play friendlies from time to time,” added Candela García Masjoan, from the Campus, the women’s soccer Academy.
