BarcelonaEach city has a different relationship with sport. It is a social trait, inherent. In Granollers, when the little ones in the house want to go out to play, they are given a ball, but smaller than a soccer ball. “We are proud of who we are,” says Antonio García, captain of the Granollers Handball Club. At 39 years old, he is an absolute international with Spain and the most veteran of the players in the dressing room, and has grown in the lower categories of the club. “We don’t have a football team behind us like Barça, we’re just a handball club, and we make do with what we have,” explains Adrià Martínez. At 24 years old, he has been at the base of the club since the age of 6, and is one of the many player projects that have reached the first team.
Both are part of a team that is second in the league, only surpassed by the intractable Barça, and that has just qualified for the quarter-finals of the European League, the second continental competition, after overcoming the eliminatory against Aarhus from Denmark. However, the conditions presented by handball in the State do not allow the players to have a fully professional career. “Here we insist from the ground up that this is not like Primera football. If you get to a good club, you can live off what you get paid for a few years, but not forever,” says García.
And there are two great realities in handball. The first, that the clubs that live in other sections play in another league. A very clear example is Barça, who lead Asobal with an iron fist, where no other team overshadows them. “They have many more resources than all the other teams, they live in another world,” the two players agree. On the other hand, in Spain it is difficult to find facilities to practice this sport. “If you leave, you can have professional experiences. It’s very normal to make a living from handball abroad, but not here,” says García, councilor of La Llagosta City Council and also captain of Granollers. “My case is more normal, my career is coming to an end. I suffer more for young people, but luckily in Granollers they insist on being more than an athlete,” he told this newspaper.
In some European countries it is very normal to make a living from handball”
antonio garcia Captain of Granollers Handball
With teams from pre-teens to the discipline of the first team, the Valais is one of the clubs that takes the best care of the youngster in the entire State. “The club is betting a lot on this, for us and also for the women’s teams. Recently there was a change of management, and you can tell that the situation is improving”, explains García. This good work leads them to bring good talents from their home, who identify with everything that this sport brings to the city. “We can take heart from this. It’s true that we’re not still competing with the big guys, but we’re getting closer,” says Adrià Martínez, who has a professional contract with a salary that doesn’t allow for big savings at the end of the month.
Of course, the first team, which is having a good season, has lost cash compared to last year. “We have to value what we do. We are the second best team in the league and we are winning big Europeans. And if we do all this with few resources, what wouldn’t we do with better conditions?” asks García. However, they agree that the fans are giving them extra life: “More and more people are coming to the Palau, they give us a plus. The club and the people are doing a very good job with this.”
“I think we have very little left to be able to compete with the big clubs in Europe,” predicts García. Getting here, however, requires some changes. “We recently started training in the mornings and afternoons, which is always done in the elite. We also don’t have all the resources, doctors or rest that we would like,” he explains. Salaries are another aspect that bothers them the most. “Many of my colleagues have to juggle to reconcile the two worlds. This doesn’t allow you to concentrate 100%”, comments García. However, they demand the maximum. “We have to behave professionally so that we are treated as such,” he tells this newspaper. He left the club of his life in 2011, and has returned years later.
A serious injury to end the season
The result, however, was not what I expected. “I signed for foreign teams thinking of living the professional experience, and I had the illusion that when I came back I could do it here too,” comments García. More than 10 years later, everything remains the same. For Adrià Martínez, who is just starting out, the hope is greater. “The club is betting more and more on us, we have good conditions despite not being completely professional,” he says.
For him, his season ended a few days ago. A torn anterior cruciate ligament, which has also affected the meniscus, will keep him off the slopes. “It’s a tough situation, especially mentally,” he says. Both he and the club were in a great moment of form when he went down injured. “I get a bittersweet feeling when I see my teammates winning important matches and that I can’t be there,” he confesses. They, however, have it in mind. Also the club, the fans and everyone who lives handball in Granollers encourages one of their own. “We are like a big family,” says Martínez. That’s why both he and Antonio García want to do great things with this club. Granollers breathes handball.