A (r)evolution in the world of the bare hand. The Pilotarienak tournament in Anglet, which begins this Friday, May 20, launches the new formula of the Elite pro calendar, for which Esku Pilota is responsible. A reflection started last winter what France Bleu Pays Basque can present to you, for restructure the 27 tournaments that punctuate the circuit from April to October. Before detailing the version, the co-presidents of Esku Pilota, Christophe Mariluz and Jean-Noël Landabure justify the reason for this change, with one voice.
“From 16 tournaments, twelve years ago, we have gone to 27. Sportingly, the level of the athletes has developed. The discipline is more and more demanding and the organizers regularly solicit the same pilotari for, and that is understandable , to be able to ensure the finances.The circuit is so made that currently, it functions with a sum of individual organizations and they seemed coherent to us to harmonize all that. A certain idea of professionalizationfirst for the players, their health, the partners and the readability of our dear discipline.”
three divisions
Thus, the circuit will henceforth be organized in three categories.
- First, the Pro Tour : six team tournaments, labeled Masters. Starting with the Pilotarienak in Anglet, this Friday 20 May. Before the Grand Dax Sagim Immobilier Masters on June 9, 10 and 12. Then, the Beria Masters at the Hasparren trinquet on June 22, 23 and 26. Then the Masters of Arcangues, with the final on July 14th. The Masters of Bayonne will follow during the Holidays and the Masters of Garindein, in Soule. Before closing the season of two to two, with a Masters Esku Pilota. “And the idea is that once this Masters is played, there will finally be a fortnight sanctuarized rest period for these ultra-solicited players”adds Christophe Mariluz.
There was a risk of trivializing the performance of the very best players. We had to make their confrontation more rare.”
─ Christophe Mariluz, co-president Esku Pilota
- The second level will be the Challenge Tour. First objective: to give playing time to young players with high potential (Jon Saint-Paul, Bixente Larralde, Andoni Iphar…) by associating them with the best players, “hoping for their blossoming in front of a filled and rejuvenated public, because the youth of the pilotari leads a young public in the trinquets”. The other objective: to move from a sum of tournaments organized individually to a more harmonious competition, with consistency. “We are going to set up the Challenge du Labourd this year. We are going to unite four organizers: Souraïde, certainly, Bayonne, Sare and Mendionde. We are going to select together sixteen players, eight forwards, eight backs. We will jointly compose the teams and plan confrontations. The winner of the first two tournaments of this Challenge will be qualified directly for the final which will be played at the Mendionde tournament. The finalists and third of the first two tournaments will meet at the Sare tournament during the Sare celebrations and the winners de Sare and finalists from Sare join the two other winners to play the final of the Challenge de Labourd in Mendionde. In doing so, we finally put in place a lasting sporting challenge for the players within the same season.”
- The third level will be called the Open Tourwhere the young promises of bare-hand discipline will meet. “Esku Pilota has targeted young players with high potential for this summer season. This means that during the months of May, June, July, August and mid-September, in agreement with their training club, Esku Pilota will supervise these young players , at the physical and technical level. And if the training sessions are conclusive, I insist on this fact because we have seen too many young players put on the shirt and stop pushing, but if these young people are efficient, diligent , they can try to prove themselves and we will integrate them into the Open Tour.”
No classification but climbs/descents
Among the rules that govern this new Elite Pro championship format, still no classification established for pilotari. “It is always difficult to classify athletes individually, in a discipline that is played in pairs. It is too random and it sometimes creates injustice, but Esku Pilota will continue to monitor everyone’s performance”. But the different levels of competition will not be closed ensure the presidents of the association organizing the circuit. “Players have too often thought that when they were ‘Elite pro’ for some they were for life. It’s over. Now it will be the truth of the kantxa. The best will play. The goal is to create emulation to increase the level. For example, you can start the season in the Open Tour and if you perform well, you can win your place to join the Challenge Tour and vice versa of course.”
A structured schedule for avoid overloading the pilotari. Moreover, Stéphane Saint-Laurent the president of the Elite pro group at the French Federation of Basque Pelota (FFPB) had admitted to the microphone of France Bleu Pays Basque last February, after the head-to-head test, that “the cascading packages disrupted the smooth running of the championship”. In particular those of the rear Ximun Lambert, and Navarrese, Luis Sanchez, whose hand seemed for a time to worry the entourage. “He, like Mickaël Darmendrail, had to absorb and digest an almost full year, despite the Covid-19. We saw that for these two players, who are still future greats, that they had trouble managing, digesting this season. And we saw that, especially for the head-to-head season, these two players were damaged physically and morally. That’s not good for the image of our discipline. That’s why it is also time to think about the health of the players and to think about how to improve, to set up recovery periods for these top athletes.”
“It’s time to move on”
Some pelotazale will speak of evolution, others of revolution. A change, at the risk of shaking up the world of pelota and the traditions that govern it? The co-presidents of Esku Pilota assume.
“We still went around the partners before taking action on this. All partners support us in this process, they have confidence in this project, in what we are trying to do. I say what we are trying to do because it is not so simple, because we are still moving a few lines, a few rules. In the Basque Country, it’s really not always easy, but it’s vital in any case for the life and development of the Basque pelota“replies Jean-Noël Landabure.
“It’s time to move forward, to develop our dear bare hand. It’s also time to develop our partnerships. To be able to improve the media coverage of our sport, it was absolutely necessary to improve the legibility of the circuit. Make it more understanding, tell stories of the players who practice the discipline. All this in order to arouse vocations among young players. So that they continue to continue playing pelota with their bare hands. Because we see that we still have a strong loss of talented young people, around the age of 16, because they are attracted by other sports, or other life goals.adds Christophe Mariluz, who took office at the start of 2021.
Peio Larralde back to competition
He returns to the kantxa. Hazpandar Peio Larralde, champion of France 2 to 2 with Jon St Paul almost three weeks ago, returns to competition after his terrible knockout in the final.
Aligned in the Pilotarienak tournament which begins this Friday in Anglet, Peio Larralde is associated with Baptiste Ducassou, the individual champion of France. Six years since the two best current bare-hand players had not competed together in competition.
Pilotarienak program
Friday 20 May – 1/2 finals:
- 8 p.m.: Darmendrail-Sanchez vs. Echeverria-Lambert
- 10 p.m.: Larralde-Ducassou vs. Ospital-Guichandut
Wednesday May 25 – Final from 8 p.m.
– Stephane Garcia