Todos sabemos quienes son las figuras del jai-alai en la actualidad: Goiko, Lopez, Irastorza, Egiguren II... Ahora bien, pongámonos a pensar que si tenemos en cuenta que la edad media en el pasado Torneo Mundial fue de más de 32 años, de aquí a 10, 12 años ¿qiénes?, pero sobre todo, ¿de dónde saldrán las piezas de recambio para ese relevo generacional?.
Hasta ahora ya sabemos de dónde han surgido las figuras en los últimos tiempos: de los jai-alai americanos. Sin embargo, con el cierre de frontones ¿cuántos jóvenes puntistas han debutado en Florida en los últimos 5 años?. En el pasado de la cantidad salía la calidad, así desde hace décadas. El propio sistema se encargaba de fabricar figuras.Ése mercado se ha desmoronado. Ni demanda ni atrae posibles aspirantes, salvo algunas excepciones. La reflexión obligada es:
1. Si el jai-alai ya no motiva y, por lo tanto, el flujo hacia Florida se ve reducido a su mínima expresión, ¿de dónde van ha surgir las figuras del futuro?.
2. Los pocos motivados que puedan plantearse el profesionalismo ¿dónde se van a formar?. En el pasado esa formación, aprendizaje del oficio, se daba en frontones como Barcelona, en Florida sobre todo. Pero, en la actualidad, ¿dónde?. Dania y Miami pueden hacer labor de cantera en suficiente cantidad como para que pueda darse la calidad?.
En Euskadi en los últimos años ¿cuántos jóvenes han debutado? Veamos, Master Jai y Jai-Alive conforman sus cuadros con 3 o 4 figuras "americanas", el resto lo completan con "producto terminado" sin riesgo, es decir, pelotaris contrastados que tras concluir el periplo americano regresan a casa donde el jai-alai se convierte en una ocupación "part-time".
Entiendo que la situación es difícil para ambas empresas que bastante hacen con sobrevivir y cuestiones como la planificación a medio y largo plazo no se aprecien. Además, tampoco se han visto necesitadas todavía, si el tirón del propio mercado americano se ha encargado de fabricar las figuras y no han tenido más que coger las pinzas y seleccionar al pelotari. Esto, desgraciadamente, se habrá acabado en pocos años, pienso yo.
¿Pueden estas 2 empresas hacer algo para que ese vacío generacional no sea una realidad a medio y largo plazo? ¿Por qué Master Jai no ha organizado este año el Pro-Am que organizó el pasado año y tan buena acogida tuvo?.
¿Puede el jai-alai del futuro sobrevivir sin una cantera que produzca figuras?
Con la población de estrellas envejecida y el índice de "natalidad" bajo mínimos, mucho me temo que en el futuro los Goiko, Lopez, Egiguren etc, con 50 años sigan jugando y siendo los mejores.
Hello to my socio.
ReplyDeleteI havent written in Spanish in about 10 years since my essay discourses on Unamuno back in High School. So I think it would be best that I write this in English hehehe. But you have some great points about the future of the sport. And more importantly than that, you have some great questions. Now I think you have plenty of amateur players who would like to try and become professional or maybe come to the states. But one problem I believe that stops a lot of future prospects from doing it is the following.. Becoming just a professional jai alai player doesnt have the appeal that it once had; either as a profession or monetarily. The way that players in spain are playing part time along with working or studying is the way to go. But what happens is that over here, they either havent grasped that concept or they just dont want to. I believe it is not very feasible(except for the superstars) to play just jai alai and do nothing else. I think that if you gave some of the kids in spain an opportunity to come here and play but maybe learn another trade or start going to school at the same time, you would have a lot more players wanting to come. Then you would have players that really want to strive and play great jai alai because they know that they have something else to look forward to if they retire early or get injured or some other unforeseeable circumstance. Although all of us would love to play 25 years at the superstar level, about 95 percent of the players that play now and in years past are never going to do that. So you need to find a way to lure the players back to america and onto the courts over in spain. The old school mentality of just playing jai alai and nothing else is very bad for the sport. I see kids like Santiso Aizpitarte and Benat that although good players, they have spent a very long time in the early games making the minimum. And with the struggling economy and the price of cestas, it must be very hard for them to make a good living with just playing jai alai. I know that when I played the many years in the early games, it was very tough for me. So with just that in mind, you really dont want to play because it doesnt make economic sense. The first year I came to Miami, with baskets going up in price and the way I used to play, I was making very little money. So what happened, I took a second job as a bartender at a restaurant. And guess what, everyone laughed at me. But I didnt care because I wanted to strive to get better not only in jai alai but outside of the sport. But what happens is that certain people just want these young kids to concentrate on jai alai and nothing else. And I dont think that it can be done anymore in that manner. Play your 9 performances, buy new baskets and practice twice a week for me is just too much and doesnt make any sense. So now imagine a young kid coming here and seeing this, after a while he is going to get fed up and want to leave. A perfect example is myself. Playing pro jai alai just to say you played pro jai alai for me doesnt make sense. And I can say that with all honesty and sincerity because I believe know one had more desire to play professionally than I did. I went through great lengths but at the end I would have been just as content if I had gone to school and continued as an amateur like a lot of the players in France do. Sure we love the sport, but I need to put food on my table. And just being able to say, I play pro jai alai just doesnt cut it anymore. And I think that is why you cant get the kids to play. Hey if players are content with just playing and they are happy, more power to them! that is awesome. But you also have some that are not content with that paycheck. And they want to better themselves outside of jai alai. Just an opinion from a big fan. I hope to get some feedback. Regards Alberto Echaburu