First Player Recruitment Day held

Last Saturday, Alser Balonmano Puerto Sagunto held its recruitment day for youth players.

During the two-hour session, a dozen players from different clubs and towns gathered at the iconic Ovni to demonstrate their abilities to Club coaches, led by Alser Sporting Director Alberto Estornell.

Given the short notice with which the event was announced and organised—at the beginning of this month, following Alberto’s recent appointment as the technical and sporting director of the youth set-up—the attendance of this number of players has been considered a success by the organisation’s officials. Members of the Board, led by Alser president Juanjo Bataller, were also present at the session to strengthen the sporting project.

It should also be noted that several players told Club officials that they had intended to attend the recruitment day, but the short notice made it impossible for some of them to be present. They have already expressed an interest in taking part in future events. According to the youth set-up’s director, José Antonio Fernández, these events “are only the tip of the iceberg of a collaborative project with all clubs and schools that wish to participate. Our aim is not to be the best at youth level, but to provide the region’s young talents with a Valencian pathway to reach the ASOBAL league.”

Along the same lines, Fernández argues that “it is curious that some sectors of Valencian handball see the development of our academy as a threat. In football, when a player developed by a modest club joins the Villarreal or Valencia academy, it is a source of joy, and all clubs are eager to sign agreements with elite teams. Valencian handball still has a long way to go before thinking big rather than small” Fernández concludes.

Nevertheless, the rojiblanco director states that “we will continue to insist on signing collaboration agreements with all those who would rather see one of their players in ASOBAL than be the best in the youth categories, as the clubs from Castellón, Onda and Almassora, and the Valencian club Torrent, are already benefiting from such agreements”

The rojiblanco board would like to thank both the players and their parents, as well as their clubs of origin, which signed the information letter that Alser made an essential condition for players wishing to attend the recruitment day.

Without doubt, this is a new avenue for identifying handball talent that Alser wishes to explore as part of its aim to be the most representative club in the provinces of Castellón and Valencia.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.