"I understood that if I left home at 13, I had to take it seriously"

Fornells of the ForestThe years go by and Queralt Casas maintains her passion intact. After seven seasons at Valencia Basket, the Bescanó player will strengthen the Spar Girona project, where she arrives eager to prove herself. “I have very good feelings and I am very happy to be able to return home. I am convinced that we will enjoy this season a lot and that we will experience many magical moments at Fontajau,” admits the shooting guard, who will reunite with Roberto Íñiguez, with whom she already coincided at Sopron.Casas, who is training these days at ExtraTime in Fornells de la Selva, has now fully recovered from the fracture of the ulna and radius she had in her left arm. “Injuries are the toughest part of sports, nobody wants to go through them, but once you have them and accept them, you have to work to return as soon as possible. The truth is that I recovered very well, I have good feelings and I have already forgotten about it,” she acknowledges.

The Catalan woman, who has played in Turkey, France and Hungary, values the importance of mental health. “I believe that psychological help is very necessary in the world of professional sports and also in any field. In my case, I have used it quite a bit, although not continuously. When I have needed it, I have asked for help. The tools they have been explaining to me, I have always used them and I will continue to do so until I retire. When I stop playing sports, if I need it, I will continue asking for help. It was a very taboo subject, which I believe is being talked about more now than in previous years because I think it helps a lot. In the end, if you want to achieve your maximum level, it helps to have psychological tools,” she recalls.“When I started playing basketball, my role models were mostly male, but from time to time I would ask my dad to show me videos of Amaya Valdemoro on YouTube – explains Casas–. I started playing basketball at Pompeu Fabra. My brother, who is three years older than me, signed up with his friends. I was very active. I liked football, taekwondo, and many other sports, but it's true that when I went to watch him train I loved it and I told my dad that I wanted to play basketball”.Casas trained at the Segle XXI high-performance center. “I remember working a lot. That experience was my turning point. We were still children, but the work was already very professional. I understood that if I left home at thirteen to go to Barcelona for four years, I had to take it seriously. I didn't know if I would become a professional player, but I gave everything I had to try.”

Intense September

The first two important games for Casas in the Spar Girona jersey will arrive in September, when the team will play the Catalan League final against Cadí La Seu and the EuroLeague preliminary round against Panathinaikos or Emlak Konut SK. “When the opportunity to sign Queralt Casas arose, we didn't hesitate for a moment. We are convinced that Queralt still has a great deal to contribute to basketball and that she arrives with great enthusiasm and a desire to prove herself after a few years in which she hasn't had a leading role. We are very happy that she has decided to come to Girona. Queralt coincided with Roberto in Sopron, where they won the League and the Cup, and they also qualified for the EuroLeague final four. Therefore, she is a player that Roberto knows very well and from whom, for sure, he will know how to get the maximum performance,” says Pere Puig, sporting director.