President of FC Cartagena CB
The Aranzana team starts this Sunday in Navarra the first of the three rounds to climb the category in its debut in Silver
Cartagena basketball lives the most important week of the last thirty years. FC Cartagena CB has returned to the professional category of LEB Plata and this Sunday (Arrosadía Sports Center, 12:00 p.m.) faces the first of the three qualifiers to dream of promotion to Gold, the second step of this sport. After three decades of anxiety, debts, hardships and situations that led the municipality to almost run out of basketball, Cebé Cartagena appears to stay for a long time. Its president for almost two years is the businessman David Ayala (Cartagena, 41 years old), a base who went through the Mare Nostrum, the CAB and the current CB Cartagena. He has surrounded himself with a board full of former club players. And under the umbrella of Efesé they want to reach Gold in two or three seasons.
–Why did you decide to take over the club?
-I was already throwing a cable in the previous directive, with Pedro Collado. There came a time when we decided to take the step forward, the team needed to regenerate and we saw the possibility that Paco Belmonte could enter, as it was. Collado was already tired. The club was on the brink of extinction, pretty bad. If we didn’t get in, it would have ended up disappearing. In this time we have risen to Silver, we are going to enjoy a ‘playoff’ to Gold and we have unified several basketball teams in the city. We have about 220 players. Clubs like Isen Cartagena and Estudiantes have decided to continue on their path.
ON SUNDAY, IN NAVARRE
“We reached the ‘playoff’ at our best, without pressure and with our homework done”
–His first decision, after being promoted to LEB Plata, was to dismiss coach Paco Guillem, who juggled to keep the club alive.
“We never stop it. We offered him to continue as manager, because he is professional and hard-working. I have enormous esteem for him and he has done a lot for this sport. An agreement was not reached, he took that as an offense, he did not sit well with him. We wanted to jump. We believe that he could be improved. And that’s when Gustavo Aranzana decides to come.
-Is the club linked in any way to UCAM Murcia?
-We have a good relationship, without more. We get along. I don’t know if in the future we could achieve the transfer of some players. At the time it is true that we tried to make a big agreement, but we did not reach an agreement. Each team leads its way. They neither put money nor give us players. There is nothing. The last player we had on a scholarship was José Antonio Marco, who left in the middle of the season.
THE DEPARTURE OF PACO GUILLEM
“We offered him to continue as manager. We wanted to jump. He didn’t sit well with her; I have enormous esteem for him»
–They have finally entered the ascent phase. Delicate moments passed. And the permanence was not tied until a month ago. What happened?
–We started the year with five wins in the first six games. Perhaps we raised expectations that were not correct. Maintaining that rhythm is very difficult. We hit a very bad pothole, we couldn’t find an explanation for it and we even talked about it with Gustavo. He was the only one who gave me peace of mind, he said that things would get better and they have. He came to us right in the middle of the season and has allowed us to correct mistakes, get up and reach the ‘playoff’ at the best moment of the season, after three wins in a row. In La Roda we sealed the promotion phase and I saw an atmosphere in the locker room that I had never seen before.
-With what objective do you face the ascent phase?
–It is our first year in Plata and the squad was made to try to reach the ‘playoff’. Once we are here, we have no goal. We go without pressure and with homework done. We have to enjoy both us and the fans. If Cartagena wants basketball, this is the time to support. Let them come to the Palace. We have about 1,100 subscribers. The second leg is on Sunday the 24th (at 12:00) and we have to see the basketball fans. You have to live and enjoy the moment.
–In the debut in Silver, the promotion phase to Gold will be played. What is the medium-long term objective?
-The idea is to consolidate. This season is going to be very good for us. We arrived as newly promoted and now nobody wanted us at the crossroads of the ‘playoff’. The clubs respect us and value what we are doing. That’s the idea. That little by little we consolidate. You have to attract players, fans and sponsors little by little. We are going to try to be in LEB Oro in two or three seasons. That is my personal goal. Just as the soccer team is now consolidated in the Second Division and in a few years it will want to dream of jumping to the First Division. We are going to work on that.
THE FUTURE
“There are players who are going to have Gold offers and it will be difficult to retain them. But we’re going to try.”
-Gustavo Aranzana is the only one who has a guaranteed future for next season. What plans are there with the template?
-We are already studying each situation of the players. Who yes and who no. There are players who are having a sensational season [el ala pívot Samu Rodríguez, el base-escolta Kimbrough y el base Víctor Aguilar, entre otros] It will be difficult to retain them because they will receive LEB Oro offers, for sure. Right now it is not convenient for us to talk about all these topics. When it’s all over, we’ll obviously be interested in keeping as large a block of players as possible. It will not be easy for us. But we are going to try.
I believe that in all this we have an important asset. People who come to the Palace and see the facilities are amazed. Thirteen teams have passed this season and all the opposing players, all of them, have been looking at the main court, they have taken photos, they have recorded videos… In the end, all of this also helps a player make one decision or another. They are the cases of boys from our staff, who are comfortable.
What is the budget for this season?
–We can be around 250,000 euros. Within the LEB Plata category there are 28 teams and we can be in the middle, more or less. These are figures that the Federation does not make public, unlike LaLiga with salary limits. But Ourense, Cantabria, Albacete, Menorca… All of those are above us and some can triple us.
– Who are the main sponsors?
–The main ones, the City Hall, the tourist brand Costa Cálida and Efesé [cubren más de la mitad del presupuesto]. In total there are about thirty supports, between sponsors and small collaborators.
The club is studying creating a ‘Fan Zone’ prior to the match on the 24th
FC Cartagena CB wants the atmosphere to be ideal on Sunday, April 24, when Gustavo Aranzana’s team will play the second leg of the first qualifying round for promotion, against Navarra. The meeting has been set for twelve noon and the club, as a preliminary, is studying organizing a ‘Fan Zone’ on the esplanade of the Palacio de Deportes.
The idea is to generate atmosphere during the prelude to the match, corresponding to the first of the three qualifiers for promotion to LEB Oro, the second category of Spanish basketball. Creating that previous environment is an issue that is at the head of the directive and is studied with that of Efesé. At first, Cebé was going to play that date on Saturday 23rd, after Cartagena-Girona at 4:15 p.m. It happens that on that day the Jimbee Cartagena also plays at the Palace. In the end, Sunday morning was chosen, the usual schedule for the entire season.
Another idea that must be given shape during the next few days is to encourage the influx of the public. Cebé has 1,100 subscribers, who will have free access to the match. The possibility of launching a ticket promotion for the general public is going to be studied, either with a formula similar to that of Efesé in recent weeks or with two tickets at the price of five euros. The club has been charging the same price, but for a single pass.
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