Betis Baloncesto is looking for a new home for its quarry after the closure of the Pino Montano pavilion for works

From night to morning, the 120 Betis Basketball children who exercise at the Betis Basketball facilities Pino Montano Educational Complex, the old Casa Cunahave been left without a place to train or play their games. The interim management of the facility has informed the club that it is closing for renovations. Seven teams from the green and white lower echelons are preparing there, two of them linked. In this complex, there are also grassroots clubs for other disciplines, including the teams of the Palestra Volleyball Club. The Seville Provincial Council is responsible for the Casa Cuna, which has had a concession agreement for many years with the Seville basketball club. In fact, we must remember that the origin of the Sevilla Basketball Club is in the Provincial Council. Countless players have passed through the aforementioned facilities, located on Avenida Manuel del Valle, including Kristaps Porzingisbrand new NBA champion with the Celtics.

The communication of the temporary closure has not been made in writing and the club, surprised by the news, has been forced to react quickly by requesting a new location for the main core of its quarrywhich between players and members of the coaching staff can encompass approximately 150 people. Betis Baloncesto has initiated contacts with the Provincial Council and arrangements are being made for a temporary transfer to the facilities of Blanco White, in Bellavistawhich also depend on the provincial body. In any case, Betis are exploring several options for this weekend, such as giving up courts in nearby towns (Valencina, La Algaba…) or requesting a change of shift and playing away from home.

As ABC has learned from sources in the Provincial Council, the provincial government plans to invest around three million euros in the Pino Montano pavilionwhich has been closed to undertake “preliminary preparatory work necessary for drafting projects.” “A comprehensive renovation of the new plant including demolition” will be undertaken for the construction of a “modern, comprehensive and sustainable facility that provides services to the Pino Montano neighborhood in the absence of municipal sports facilities.” Meanwhile, and according to these same sources, clubs can use the outdoor courts, with access to the changing rooms, and use Blanco White facilities for federated matches. When the works begin, the idea is that the Provincial Council and the Seville City Council will collaborate to assign other facilities to the affected clubs.

Structural deficiency

This setback for the green and white youth team delves into a structural deficiency in the city, which seems to have no solution: the saturation of the pavilions, which is fully affecting Betis Baloncesto. In fact, its junior team, which plays in the EBA League (one category below Insolac Caja 87), plays in the Vistazul pavilion of Dos Hermanas (taking advantage of Hereda’s sponsorship of the BSR Vistazul in the Nazarene city), but he trains regularly on the basement track of the San Pablo sports center located in the annex building of the indoor pool. A field that the first team of the team has had to resort to Betis Baloncesto, Caja 87 and DOC Gardenstore Sevilla Femenino in the two weeks that San Pablo hosted the Santander Master Sevilla Pádel in October. CDB San Pablo, the First Senior Provincial Men’s Basketball team, also plays home games on the center court of the San Pablo Sports Palace.

At Betis Baloncesto, in addition to being uncomfortable with their situation in San Pablo, they are very upset with what has happened to the quarry. They think he deserves better treatment. To get an idea of ​​the size of its structure, it is enough to remember that in those lower ranks there are currently nine internationals for the Spanish team, one for Malta, another boy for Poland and one more, the jewel in the crown, for Brazil, Mathias Vazquez, who at 16 years old is training with the Betis Baloncesto first team and made his debut this week with the Canarinha senior team under the orders of Aleksandar Petrovicone of the myths of cajismo. He has a current contract with the green and white club (three more years) although at the moment he cannot debut in Primera FEB due to his non-EU status.