ESP - The generation game
MADRID (EuroLeague Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - When Rivas Ecopolis tip off their new campaign in Europe on Wednesday night, spectators will be reminded of how Spain are moving from one generation to the next. Visiting Tarsus Belediye Spor, a club based in Mersin on the southeast coast of Turkey, will have taken a flight of more than four ...
MADRID (EuroLeague Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - When Rivas Ecopolis tip off their new campaign in Europe on Wednesday night, spectators will be reminded of how Spain are moving from one generation to the next.
Visiting Tarsus Belediye Spor, a club based in Mersin on the southeast coast of Turkey, will have taken a flight of more than four hours to Madrid.
Among their players is Amaya Valdemoro.
The most visible player in the history of Spanish women's basketball, Valdemoro is now 36 years old.
She has represented Spain in major tournaments like European Championships, FIBA World Championships and Olympic Games since 1995.
That happens to be the year that Marina Lizarazu, a point guard in the Rivas Ecopolis squad, was born.
Only this summer, Spain selected the 1.72m point guard for their squad at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women in the Netherlands, and Lizarazu had a whale of a performance.
Second on the team in scoring at 9.5 points per contest, Lizarazu played big minutes as Spain reached the Final before falling to the United States, 75-62.
The Madrid-born Lizarazu thrived on the big stage, burying three shots from long range on her way to a game-high 19 points against the Americans.
The performance was, if anything, a loud message that Spain has a youngster, one that is less than half the age of Valdemoro, that is about to burst onto the scene.
Rivas, in fact, have several youngsters that will feature with the national team in the years to come.
There are current national team players Laura Nicholls (23) and Anna Cruz (26), and former youth team player Vega Gimeno (21).
The trio featured last season when Rivas went on a surprising run to the EuroLeague Women Final in Istanbul.
Coach Miguel Martinez Mendez also has 20-year-old Queralt Casas, a newcomer to the club who helped fire Spain to gold at this summer's U20 European Championship.
Casas may be the most talented of all the Rivas young guns.
In a recent 74-72 upset of Perfumerias Avenida in Salamanca, 1.78m shooting guard poured in 11 points, corralled four rebounds, handed out three assists and came up with four steals.
Also playing for Tarsus with EuroBasket Women 2007 MVP Valdemoro is veteran Spain center Cindy Lima, who is 31.
FIBA