The player from Valladolid, forged in the Grupo Norte school, aspires to win everything with Ilunion / The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are on his horizon.
The young Grupo Norte Foundation School soon found its first diamond. Inside, engraved his name, Pablo Lavandeira; a player of the present and future who, after being polished in his native Valladolid, shines at Ilunion. There he landed last summer after five seasons at Pilar Fernández Valderrama, a home to which he returned for the first time as a visitor last week.
“That pavilion was my home. It was strange at first, after the break I almost went to the bench in Valladolid, out of habit, "jokes 'Pau' -his nom de guerre-. “It was weird, but exciting, teaching my teachers what they have made me. For me it is a pride to see where I have arrived and I think it is for them too, "says Lavandeira, who would have liked to experience a tighter match on his return home." At 19 years old, the pucelano has already settled in a constellation of stars with which he shares hours on the parquet. In the capital, he is experiencing an accelerated process of metamorphosis: "The change is very big and it is not easy," admits the bodyguard. "Training every day with 10-11 players from the world TOP 20 is improving my level," he says. The young man from Valladolid is not a squire on Miguel Vaquero's board, he is one more piece on his board; a role that he was in question when he decided to pick up the glove thrown by Ilunion -champion of 16 Leagues, 18 Copa del Rey and three European Cups-.
It is true that here it is mandatory to always win, but, to this day, I have not noticed that pressure. I have enjoyed all the matches and I have also played more than I expected, he celebrates.
Playing between 20 and 30 minutes per game and counting on your coach at important moments gives the player «a plus of confidence on a personal level. He explains to you that you are important»; a responsibility that he was already aware of at Fundación Grupo Norte. Pablo Lavandeira's moral thermometer is at historical limits. Player of a team that aspires to win all competitions, the sights of the man from Valladolid -although focused on the League, Cup and Champions League- also point in the direction of Tokyo, the capital that will host the Paralympic Games in the summer. Despite not playing the last European Championship with Spain, the appointment with the Olympic rings is not erased from the shooting guard's head. “Now I am not within the 12 of the ADO plans and I have to earn the possibility of going to Tokyo”, explains Lavandeira, who recognizes that playing in Ilunion is “a plus”.
Rhythm makes you better as a player and being in Europe gives you visibility and a name. In the end you train with the best in the world and the coach will take that into account, he understands.
"The quality minutes" that he enjoys in the League and Cup champion are a university for the pearl from the Grupo Norte Foundation School, where he works every day so that sport becomes an inseparable friend of his students.
Lavandeira sprouted from its root and who knows if in time a new star will be born. I hope they continue to come out young. I always invite people in chairs not to stay at home and more in young boys. I hope that it does not remain an illusion and that more people come out with the necessary measures.