Eric Irastorza is one of the greatest Basque pelota champions. He is considered the best back in the world in the discipline of cesta punta.
He was twice world amateur champion, five times in professional, ten times winner of the gold glove in Biarritz and ten times of the internationals of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
Embracing an international career, he spent 20 years in Miami in the United States, then 3 years in Mexico, before returning to the Basque Country.
At the microphone of Bixente Lizarazuhe returns to the particular conditions in which he lived from his sport in the United States.
20 years of Basque pelota in Miami
When he was a teenager, Eric Irastorza remembers thathe saw the best Basque pelota players in Miami arrive in his region to come and participate in the various tournaments. American recruiters were also on the move and took advantage of this to recruit young players who stood out from the crowd.
At the age of 16, the future champion received his first contract proposal, but he flew to Miami when he was 20 and that he discovered life in Florida. “We played three to four hours a day and then we took advantage of the setting. We learned English and Spanish. For a young person, it was very rewarding to leave.”he says.
However, behind the postcard image, the Basque pelota player had to coping with the fast pace of daily competitions and the pressure of having to win at all costs. “As we played every day, we had a continuous championship. Over six months, the player who won the most games won the championship., says the champion. He knew how to resist psychologically and excelled in his discipline by remaining number one back for 15 years.
It was both a passion and an obligation to perform that made us gladiators. Every day, we had to win. If we didn’t win, it was bad. – Eric Irastorza
Today, looking back, he readily compares himself to a gladiator and realizes that he had become a “winning machine” : “Every day, we had to win. If we didn’t win, it was bad. At the end of the season, based on the statistics, the boss was deciding whether to raise or lower our salary.”. The right to error was not an option. “If we didn’t play, we were paid the minimum. The interest was not to get hurt and that, unfortunately, playing every day, it was complicated.
Such a rhythm and such a stake in each competition weighed on the relations between the players. “We don’t play sixty players for the same team, it’s every man for himself”, explains Eric Irastorza. To make betting more exciting for the public, players changed partners and numbers with each game. The back therefore had to adapt to his forward, before probably finding him the next match as an opponent. “He could play badly with you and very well with another. Mentally it’s hard to accept and it creates a lot of tension, because there was money in between. The locker room was hot”.
From this long experience abroad, Eric Irastorza retains a lot of positive things beyond sport and success. He also regrets that today’s young players no longer have the opportunity to live the same experience as him. “For me, it was the best school”he concludes.