Alejandro Zarzuela: “Wheelchair basketball changed my life”

Over the last few days, the Spanish men’s wheelchair basketball team was competing at the European Championship in Adeje, Tenerife. The national team ended up placing fifth after beating Italy in the match for fifth or sixth place. Two of the key figures in this success are brothers and they wanted to share their thoughts on their careers and the sport with CaixaBank.

As the sponsors of the Spanish Federation of Sports for the Physically Disabled (FEDDF), CaixaBank promotes the values that this sport instils and actively takes part in the initiatives set up by the Federation. In fact, CaixaBank sponsored the CaixaBank Spanish Schools Championship, which was held in Sabadell on 7-9 July. The aim is to nurture talent and push new generations to keep up the same competitive spirit that has led so many Spanish teams to success.

Good morning, Alejandro and Pablo Zarzuela. You’re brothers and you’ve both had the most success and the highest quality in the team. How do you take the comparison with the Gasol brothers? What similarity do you see in your careers?

Alejandro: I’m flattered by the comparison; they’re both sportsmen with a lot of trophies under their belts who are very important for the history of basketball in Spain, though, at the same time, I’m a little tired of the comparison. I think that the only thing we have in common is that we’re bothers, and that’s as far as it goes. I think they’re going to be unbeatable for a long time to come!

Pablo: We take the nickname affectionately and in good humour since the comparison is a huge honour. I think all four of us are very successful in our careers, but the Gasols are a whole other ballgame [laughs].

What lead you to get started with basketball?

Alejandro: The fact that it’s a team sport and a contact sport. I love that side of it.

Pablo: I was wandering around Jerez and I bumped into a player who, at the time, was playing on the city team. He said that if I wanted to play wheelchair basketball then I should come along to a training session and have a go. So I did. As you can see, I loved it!

How important has basketball been in your lives and how does it affect you on a daily basis?

Alejandro: I think that it has given me a good grounding as a person and as a sportsman, on top of my upbringing. Living side-by-side with people with a wide spectrum of handicaps has helped me learn a lot both personally and about sport.

Pablo: Basketball has helped me make contact with people in very different situations to my own, and to learn from them about getting over certain difficulties. It also keeps me agile and active, which is important given my sedentary lifestyle. It also keeps me disciplined and I’ve learnt to work in team, etc.

What does the future have in store for wheelchair basketball?

Alejandro: My hope is that it becomes more and more professionalised and can become a lifestyle for much more people in future. Basketball makes us more independent and autonomous.

Pablo: I hope and believe that it will become completely professionalised and we’ll carve ourselves out a visible space in society. At the end of the day, the media is behind us.

What role do sponsors play for a sport like wheelchair basketball?

Alejandro: Sponsors play a crucial role. It’s the difference between being able to really focus when preparing for a tournament, as with the national team, or for lower level teams to get by.

Pablo: It’s a staple role. Thanks to the sponsors, teams have the resources they need for lovers of the sport like me to have the chance to dedicate their lives to it.

What message would you like to get across to people who, for whatever reason, have ended up in a wheelchair and don’t know whether to keep going with sport or to take one up?

Alejandro: Experience has shown me that sport gives you independence and autonomy. Team sports instil you with great values and being able to share your daily life with other people with disabilities is a very enriching experience. It changed my life.

Pablo: I would say that life goes on. If they were already sportspeople, then there’s almost definitely an adapted version of their sport and they’ll be able to keep on enjoying it fully. If they didn’t play any sports before, this is the best time to start. Living in a wheelchair means you have a very sedentary lifestyle and it’s almost necessary to throw a sport into the mix to have a decent quality of life.