What is the life of an athlete like after retirement?, according to Badalona Youth legend Jordi Villacampa

BadalonaIt is impossible to explain the successes of the 80s and 90s of Joventut de Badalona without Jordi Villacampa. The former player, who was a hero to a whole generation of fans, received the affection of the green-and-black supporters during the last Copa del Rey played in Badalona. She’s close to turning 60, but people still keep asking her why she hung up her thighs so early. “I retired at 34 because I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere other than Youth and I wanted to be honest with myself. If I couldn’t be 100%, I’d rather retire. I wasn’t good in my last season. People also get tired of seeing the same thing all the time, and when you know you can’t give them the same thing you gave them… I could have continued playing for two or three more years, but not at the same level. When I made the decision I was mentally prepared . I enjoyed playing, but not so much training, the pre-game or the trips. I wasn’t having such a good time anymore. When you retire, you realize you’ve lived in a cloud, that you’re mortal, but you learn to- you get the idea,” he explains.

The Kelme Villacampa, the vambas he popularized, have become a collector’s item. “These are from the late 80s. Epi had his Adidas, and Kelme, who came from the cycling world, bet on me. It was a success. I still have a pair in a warehouse where I keep the most special things, but I ended up giving away a lot of things,” says the former player.

“I had very good genetics and I worked a lot on my physique. Physically I was portentous and in the last few seasons at Ausiàs March I felt much superior to most rivals. Although from the outside I wasn’t very top, I was a very good scorer . My game evolved over the years to adapt to the demands of defenses and I ended up improving my shooting a lot. To be a good player you have to be able to do different things, not just penetrate or just throw. I think I was quite complete, although when I go back to videos from that time I see that the defenses were not like they are now. Today’s basketball is not the same and the type of players has also evolved a lot,” acknowledges Villacampa , who has his shirt retired at the Olympic Palace.

His duels with Epi are well remembered by fans. “The relationship I have with him is still very good and from time to time we still have a meal. On the court we used to fight a lot, but outside we got on very well. We shared a room in the national team. Other great rivals of my time went be Biriukov and Herreros,” he recalls. What not all fans know is that Villacampa had an offer to play for Barça. “After winning the European Cup, I was free for the first time in many years. I had always moved with long contracts. At 31, I had the offer from Barça, which did not end up curdling, and I left very happy to stay at La Penya,” he says.

When he announced his retirement, Villacampa did not plan to be president of La Penya. “Not at all. I went to work as an analyst at Catalunya Ràdio and helped Penya exploit the pavilion with concerts. Genís Llamas convinced me to join the board and help a little, but the other day he left unexpectedly. I was offered to become chairman and I committed the imprudence of accepting without looking at the numbers, without doing an audit. I found myself a ruined club, without a sponsor and sportingly very weak,” he confesses.

Villacampa’s record includes a European Cup, two Korac, two Leagues and a King’s Cup. “The 90s was the time when we managed to uncork the bottle. We won the Korac, a couple of leagues and, of course, the Euroleague. It had been a while since we reached many finals, but we didn’t win them. We were a young team that was growing. It was the beginning of a not very long era in which Youth dominated basketball. It all started with Korac against Sergio Scariolo’s Scavolini,” he explains.