2023-07-18 06:30:33
“My head is to play 20 more finals, but the body has said enough. I would have liked to say goodbye on the track, although I don’t think there is a better place to say goodbye than at the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) surrounded by friends next Tuesday, April 3. Thank you all”. With these words the double world champion in 2005 and 2013 Albert Rocks officially announced his retirement. It was 2018. As a result, a long career full of successes came to an end and Girona handball lost a reference on the courts. Five seasons later, however, the future is assured with a new generation of the Rocas family that already knows the first triumphs. The palafrugellenc quim rocks17 years old, has taken the testimony of his uncle Albert.
Last July 7 Quim Rocas proclaimed himself European under-17 champion with Spain, after defeating the French team in the final. The role of the Girona centre-back, who did very well, was key to lifting the title. And apart from being the game’s top scorer with six goals, Rocas was named MVP of the EHF Euro Open 2023. In the tournament, Spain did not slack off for a moment to win each and every one of the duels. Those of Holy Urdiales they first got past Israel, the Faroe Islands and Finland in the group stage; and then they beat Portugal, Croatia and Sweden in the Main Round. Against France, the last rival, they did not give in until they touched glory.
Apart from entering the calls for the under-17 national team – he was part of a Spanish list for the first time in December 2021 -, the smallest of the Rocks stands out in the lower categories of FC Barcelona. His uncle also played for Barça. The Barcelona club signed him in 2018, precisely when his uncle Albert announced that he was retiring, coming from Garbí Handball Club. Quim joined the first-year junior and is currently a second-year junior.
From generation to generation
As it could not be otherwise, Quim was introduced to handball by his relatives. Both his uncle and his father, Josep, played it, so it was immediately clear what his sport would be. He knew the atmosphere in the pavilions. Explains the Garbí coordinator, oriol sierra, that “from a very young age, at the age of four or five, Quim already came to train at the club”. At the age of 6, he signed up because that’s the age at which you start competing and completed the entire training stage at the club in his town until Barça came to look for him. The good role of the youngster from Palafrugell to reach the top 4 in Catalonia was the perfect excuse to encourage the Blaugrana to look for him. “He has always stood out. He was physical and you could see that he was a gifted player”, says Sierra.
At first, however, his arrival in Barcelona was a little special because Quim did not live in the Masia but continued in Palafrugell. In this way, Barça established an agreement with Garbí so that Rocas would train with the children and cadets of the Palafrugell organization and then go to the Blaugrana facilities for two days to train with his teammates. The ups and downs from Palafrugell to Barcelona lasted three years.
Currently, Quim lives in the farmhouse. He has resided there since 2020, although whenever he has free time to go to his home in Palafrugell. “At the very least it can be in the village. He also collaborates as a coach with one of our women’s teams. He is very involved with Garbí. He is very mature for his age, calm, a good person and you can see him focused on his day to day”, says Sierra.
Both for him and for his family, it has been positive for both him and his family when it comes to gaining quality of life, since Rocas has many more hours to devote to studies, among others. Now he has finished high school first at the Blumewhere he has the facilities to combine it with handball, and, at the moment, he plans to go to university to study engineering when the next academic year ends.
At Barça, Rocas has matched up with a good group of Girona natives. The Bordeaux twins also play with him Djorde and Petar Cikusachildren of ex-technician Zoran, and the Saarnian Pol Quiroga. All four work hard and progress together to one day exploit all their talent. His generation has a promising future.
The Cikusa twins from Bordeaux dazzle with the youth team
Uncle Albert, of reference
On the road where he takes the first steps towards professional handball, Rocas has a small advantage because he has great advice from his uncle Albert. He is a point of reference for the young player and whenever he has any doubt, he refers it to him so that the ex-winger can help him solve it with his experience, which is not little. Who knows if one day Quim will be able to fulfill the same dream as Albert in the elite. At the moment, Garbí, Barça and the Spanish national team are linked.
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