They are proud of their origins and want to defend the colors of their flag: the pilotari of the Portuguese delegation of Basque pelota participate for the first time in the World Cup which takes place until October 29 in Biarritz – Basque Country. They are 16 playersmen and women, selected from seven disciplines
: frontenis, hollow gum paleta, leather paleta, and frontball. For the first time, they marched during the opening ceremony
Sunday at the Jai-Alai in Biarritz. The advantage is that they play almost at home, because most of them live in the southwest.
“Of the 16 players, we have three players from Portugal and 13 players from the south-west who have dual nationality”
— Cyprien Ducos
For the head of the Portuguese delegation, Cyprien Ducos, this is only the beginning of an epic: “Today, we have frontball courts in Lisbon. On the other hand, we don’t have a pediment, but we are working on it”. In the meantime, several players have been trained in French clubs in the Basque Country, in the Landes, in Bigorre or in Gironde. Pilotari who could have played for the France team. “This is the case of Camille (Arrested) that I train” says coach Jean-Philippe Bennesse. “She had a disappointment during the selections for the France team. I knew she could have dual nationality. It’s a bit of revenge!”
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A dream come true
Sandra Simao is from Bayonne. But his parents transmitted to him the love and passion for their country of origin: Portugal. Sandra Simao is fluent in Portuguese, but it’s under the tricolor colors that she played frontenis for more than 20 years. She also won the silver medal during the pelota world championship in Barcelona in 2018. “20 years ago, I said that my dream was to one day see the Portuguese flag fly at the world pelota championships, we’re there!” rejoices the one who now trains the women’s team of Portugal in frontenis and rubber paleta.
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APPB
The dream was made possible thanks to the creation, in 2013, of thePortuguese Association of Basque Pelota
(APPB). Among other things, it allowed find sponsors to finance the participation of the Portuguese delegation in this world. “We had to find €2,000 just to register for the world championships” explains Cyprien Ducos, head of the association. “To this must be added the incidental costs such as the purchase of balls, the rental of facilities for training, etc. We do not have state aid since we are not a federation, but an association.” The new dream is therefore to be able to create a Portuguese federation of Basque pelota. “But it’s a medium-term dream” says Cyprien Ducos. In the meantime, he asked for a membership in the tennis federation of Portugal to obtain support, in particular financial, for the next pelota world championship which will take place in Argentina in 2026.