Pilota valenciana players met on Wednesday at the presentation of the game, in which Francés, Javi and Carlos will face Marc, Dani and Nacho on Saturday. La Nau hosted on Wednesday the presentation of the final match of the XI Trofeu Universitat de València of professional escala i corda (the most prestigious variant of pilota valenciana). This match will pit Francés, Javi and Carlos against Marc, Dani and Nacho on Saturday in Pelayo.
Pilotaris (pilota players), organisers and authorities showed the good understanding between the hundred year old institution and the pilota valenciana world in the days before one of the greatest events of the season, one of the most prestigious competitions played in reduced format of two semi-finals and final.
The act started with the intervention of the vice rector Antonio Ariño, who mentioned that “the pilota and the Universitat de València have a very long story in common, as it is the coexistence between our institution and Valencian sport. We are aware that the social or commercial repercussion will be grater with other sports, but pilota valenciana represents the Valencian identity, our roots and culture of a town”.
After that, Alfredo Hernando “Fredi” expressed his gratitude for the commitment of the Universitat de València with this sport. Then, the Val Net directive pointed out that the profile of the professional pilotari has changed over the years. “Nowadays, 90% of them have university studies or are studying at this time”, said.
The next one to take the floor was the general manager of the Universitat de València, Joan Oltra, who encouraged young people to discover and practice pilota for being a “very challenging sport with particular values. The gentlemanliness and sportsmanship should not be at odds with sport and pilota is an example”.
Likewise, Oltra pointed out that patronage as a championship “is a continuity of the commitment of the Universitat de València with pilota valenciana. Our acts with this sport aren’t limited to a punctual presence in this championship and we dedicate resources and efforts to other activities with which we aim to collaborate in the social and institutional projection of this sport. Other objective is to make pilota more presence from the academic point of view”.
In the presentation also participated the pilota players Dani, Javi and Nacho. The first one was pleased about having the opportunity of winning the title. “I face the final with the intention of enjoying it. I am very happy, because despite my age I am still participating in such important events. But I am aware that every time I have less time left and that is why I enjoy very specially these finals”.
On the other hand, Javi said that the Trofeu Universitat “is attractive for the public and pilotaris and it would be fine to win it in order to cheer up our feelings after not very good results we got at the Circuit Professional competition”.
The pilotari from Beniparrell, Nacho, analysed how the final could be: “we are teams playing in very different ways and these could contribute to make the game attractive. We work more on the “quinze” movement and our rivals prefer the “pegada””.
The Trofeu Universitat de València is conceived as an approach between the university community and the pilota valenciana. For this reason, students, professors and administrative and service staff of the Universitat de València have free entrance to the games with the presentation of the UV card.
