The club from the southern district of Murcia has risen for the second time in three years, but has yet to overcome the economic hurdle
“June 30 is the deadline for the Spanish Federation to ratify registration in EBA,” said José Campillo, AD Infante first team player and Infante lower tier coach. Álvaro Bernal, also player and coach, clarifies that “we will not give a guarantee without the assurance that we can continue to carry out the project.”
It is the summary in data of the torment AD Infante is going through in order to materialize what has been achieved sportingly and to fulfill a dream already touched on in 2019, the year of the previous promotion from 1st Division to EBA, but that in the offices don’t go as far as at the park. At that time, he caught the club in a transitional moment to the new model they follow today, with the Life Forest CO2 seal recognizing it as an ecological entity, equality in male and female sections, new management and sports management, and a very distinctive identity neighborhood. This is demonstrated by the new shield, featuring the iconic hospital bridge connecting the Infante Juan Manuel to the center of Murcia, and the slogan ‘We are making a neighbourhood’.
“We are better prepared this time,” admits Bernal, the club’s most recognizable face. But not quite yet. “Going out in EBA costs about 60,000 euros, and at the moment we still have about 30,000 to collect.” In 2019 they were further away, but unlike this year they were not the big favorites. When the first ball was thrown in the air last season 2021-22, everyone pointed to the Infante, who eventually became champions in the ‘Final Four’ played on May 7-8 at Príncipe de Asturias.
“Now we have more experience and resources, but we still have it very complicated and we depend on a lot of support,” Bernal acknowledges. With several entries, the Infante has come out this season with the support of 38 private companies, but for a club of 22 federated teams and 10 schools, it is still not enough. The club has 215 federated players and 100 boys and girls in schools.
The Infante knocks on the door of the town hall. “The support of the public administration is super important, also to be able to train more tracks.” Campillo opens a new collaboration opportunity for the Consistory. “They can help us not only directly financially, but also by putting us in touch with a company that can do it.” Any help is little. Time flies.
“Excluding the subsidiary of UCAM, which is an ACB club, we would be the only team from the city of Murcia in EBA,” said Bernal, with some discomfort at the comparative complaint. Alcantarilla, Archena, Molina de Segura and Cehegín, the other Murcian squares in EBA, all have significant support from their consistory. This does not happen in Murcia. Everything else is ready. «Our problem, just like three years ago, is the economic part. The pavilion has the right conditions, we have the coach and the players… that’s all.”
When the Infante became champion again on May 7, he ended the sporting journey of the trip to EBA. One that hadn’t exactly been rosy. From the beginning. On September 2, Pablo Solbes, physical trainer, was diagnosed with a benign tumor on his hip. “That’s why our word of unity has been ‘hip’ this year, a way to understand at all times what really matters.” His physical therapist, Antonio Parra, was unable to play due to meniscus problems. And during the season, Miguel Asensio suffered knee and wrist injuries at the end of March and Nacho Jiménez suffered a broken Achilles tendon.
And yet the Infante remained a favorite. In a ‘Final Four’ where the pressure took its toll on Santo Ángel, his closest rival in the semi-finals, the Infante took note so that the same wouldn’t happen to him. In any case, Bernal, author of 27 points and 9 rebounds in the semifinals, and after another 20 and 9 in the finals, ended both games with low and tight scores, 56-52 and 65-55. He also has knee problems. “On the Tuesday of that week, we thought he wouldn’t play,” Solbes says.
One of the great challenges of this new era of the Infante leading the generation of 95 and 96 players, the most successful in its history, is to give the club a sense of belonging. A maximum of seven players of the championship team are youth team members of the club and three more are from the neighborhood. Bernal himself has had the chance to go to EBA to play for other teams, but “the project we started last year is very exciting and the band goes beyond me living here.” Álvaro Bernal, the star of the team. Álvaro Bernal, the neighbor of the neighborhood.
El Infante does not want to think much about next year until he gets the financial support he needs, but he is clear that “we will keep as many players as possible, and in the second senior team there will be players in dynamism with the first. We will not We know if we’ll achieve it, but we’re proud of our people,” Bernal and Campillo say, almost in unison. “The day after we were promoted, we had everyone moving to get the support. That’s your pride. There are 19 days left before the deadline and 30,000 euros are needed.The Infante deserves to confirm in the offices the increase he has achieved on the track.
Source: La Verdad
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