In San Sebastian, Northern Spain Basque Country to be precise, theres a village square in the Old Town which has been the focal point of cultural activities within the community for centuries. And tucked within a small corner of this rather interesting space riveting with history, I received a most personal novel welcome early last month
Now, absolutely taking nothing away from my hosts, LaLiga who invited me alongside a handful of media practitioners ten of us precisely from across the world Japan, Indonesia, Morrocco, Ghana, Argentina, Brazil, Germany - to not only come witness the Basque Derby Elderbi V asco to the uninitiated but to experience Basque culture and its uniqueness, whilst also taking in two other LaLiga games scheduled over a four day duration to be played within the region. Vamos , I said.. and the City of Bilboa beckoned.
The program would see us also engage with high level club representatives and take a deep dive into the individual clubs operations, learn about their sustainability positions, even challenges as well as the evolution of their philosophies.
All kicked off at Real Sociedad stadium grounds early on day one of three activity filled days where Sociedad legend and ambassador Xabi Pietro one club man 530 games played welcomed us and shared deep stories from the clubs history. fun fact - Xabi was a member of the youth team when my friend Mutiu Adepoju played in the first 11 alongside Imanol Alguacil whom has just retired as coach after six and a half years at the helm of affairs. Then Zubieta next the clubs famed youth academy and training ground of La Real . This ground has trained the likes of Zubimendi more recently, Xabi Alonso and of course its most famous son, Antoine Greizmann of whom academy director Luki Iriate remarked we used to say the sun comes out when Antione plays given that San Sebastin gets the most rainfall of almost anywhere in Spain, this spoke to how special a talent the French international was coming through the ranks. La Reals policy of ensuring academy players emerge from its program well rounded academically as well as sportingly over 90 of its university-age players are enrolled in degree programs with about 70 of players remaining till age 17 is indeed something that sets it apart from other football academies in Spain.