2023-07-05 06:31:50
It’s 7 a.m. on a summer’s day on the fine sand beach of El Rastrell, in Roses, and there are about fifteen players practicing beach soccer. It is common to find them from Monday to Friday, in a field with enabled goals on the same beach. They are members of Platja de Roses Sports and Leisure Clubknown as Roses Beach, which has become the reference entity in Catalonia. “We train at this time because at 9 people leave for work, we can’t get together at any other time. It’s a sacrifice and we implemented it last year because we started to set more ambitious goals”, he explains Dani Harowho does everything in the Rosinc club: president, coordinator, coach and player.
Those from Alt Empordà have the first men’s and women’s teams located in the highest state category of clubs and are the current champions of Catalonia. His philosophy goes beyond senior results. The club has close to 200 players distributed in all scales, between the first teams and the pre-Benjamins. The grassroots teams train three times a week between June and August.
Omnipresent in Catalan
Torredembarra and Vilanova had been the leading clubs, but now Roses has moved to the front line. This fact has not gone unnoticed by the Catalan soccer team. Without going any further, between yesterday and tomorrow the combined cadets and children are disputing the Spanish Championships in Córdoba with 22 of the 24 players from Alt Empordà, most of whom are natives. One of his coaches is Dani Haro himself. And, at the end of July, in Melilla and Cadiz, it will be the turn of the seniors and juniors, in male and female categories, where everything points to the call maintaining the same tone.
With players from the village
Another award that Roses Platja has had is that, last June and for the first time, it hosted one of the tests of the First Division National Championship senior (organized by the RFEF) and the Championships of Catalonia in six categories (FCF). In the state league, made up of 10 teams, the Rosinc men’s team is the only Catalan one, it occupies third place and is immersed in entering the Final Four. It will be played next week in Huelva with direct matches against Marbella, Levante and Cadiz. These are rivals who, together with the leader, Melistar, from Melilla, have players from the Spanish, Argentine, Brazilian and Japanese national teams. “We are playing against the world elite of beach soccer. Qualifying for the Final Four will be very difficult, but it would be historic for the club,” says Haro.
The Roses Platja has the entire squad of players from the village who during the rest of the year play under-11 football, mainly in AE Roses, Roses City and UE La Jonquera. To try to reach the final phase, they have been reinforced with two pieces from the Costa Rican selection. The Roses Platja senior women’s team also competes at the highest level, but in this case with Barcelona players, two of whom are immersed in the Queens League, Chivi and Nacha, in the Anniquiladoras: “We don’t have any from the area because, in the league, almost all the rivals are in First Division clubs, such as Alabès, Eibar, Osasuna… The level is very demanding, but we are already working on strengthening the women’s section with players from the division”, explains Haro.
At the same time, Roses Platja also contests the Cup of Spain in senior, youth and cadet categories. The club is active between May and August and competitions are held between June and July. The rest of the year they don’t train because the temperature outside drops – in the sand, they play barefoot – and all the players already compete in the FCF’s 11-a-side football leagues. However, the club is assessing with theCity Council of Roses the option of placing a sandbox in a covered space. “It would be very important because Roses would also become a world destination for beach soccer”, adds Haro. The FCF is also involved in this modality and the future Casa del Futbol Català, in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, will include a multi-sports hall for futsal and beach soccer.
The predators of Girona football
The spectacularity of the Chileans
In beach soccer, 5-on-5 matches are played: “The ground and the circulation of the ball is different than the grass; you get more tired, travel is slower, and you can’t drive fast on dirt. But it’s attractive and gives a lot of spectacle, since, for example, you can’t intercept a player who is starting a Chilean”, describes Haro.
In Roses, the fever for this sport comes from afar. “The town has had a beach soccer culture for many years.” The seed was established with the Local Championship, which celebrates its 25th edition this Saturday. In 2010, Roses Platja was founded. “In 2009, the FCF tried to promote beach soccer, they invited us to the first Copa Catalunya, when we were still playing under the name of Harry’s Bar, we fell in love with this sport and we founded the club”, remembers the rosinc.
Suli Batis, the only Girona player in the Spanish national team fighting to go to the World Cup
The Spanish beach soccer team has a representative from Girona. This is Rosinc Suli Batis, who this week is in Baku (Azerbaijan) competing for the qualifiers to go to the FIFA World Cup that will be held in the United Arab Emirates in November. Suli, 20 years old, is one of the values that emerged from the Roses Platja squad and defends the colors of the Levant. In the Catalan Championship, in Roses, he was able to play with the Rosincos. He has been a regular with Spain since he was called up two years ago and when he is not competing on the sand he is competing on the grass. This season, he has played for La Jonquera, of Segona Catalana.
“Suli is the result of the good work done with the base”, explains a Dani Haro who is one of the other most outstanding Girona players. The alma mater of Roses Platja is 33 years old and is the footballer who has worn the shirt of the Catalan national team more times. He recently played for the sixth time in the Euro Winners Cup, known as the Champions League of beach soccer, with Recreativo de Huelva, in Nazaré (Portugal). Can you make a living from beach soccer in Spain? “Only 5-10 players can do it, those who go to the national team and go to play with foreign teams. Where they pay better is in Russia, Italy and Israel”, confesses Haro, who has also played in South America.
The Euro Winners Cups were also contested by Suli, who is the second Roses player to play for the Spanish national team. Nelson Hinojosa opened the door in 2011, shortly after debuting with the brand new Catalan national team (2009). Hinojosa is now 38 years old and continues to score goals and manage Roses Platja. Who also knocked on the Catalan side’s door was Àlex Granell from Girona, who had played in the local Roses beach soccer tournament with the University of Girona.
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