18.08.2008 11:12

First soujorn at ‘El Montanyà’

Sònia de Alba

Barça Sorli Discau starts the 2008/09 season. The roller-hockey first team are all at ‘El Montanyà’ for their first week of work. Physical training will be the main means of preparation for the next five days.

Quim Paüls and his men -“have the same team and the same desire to win if not more”, the Barcelona manager reminded- set out on a new campaign. The season has been planned “with high hopes and desires but with the responsibility of being the team to beat”. “In this respect we all have to make an effort to maintain the level we’ve had up to now”, commented Paüls before boarding the coach taking the team to ‘El Montanyà’.

Barça Sorli Discau will gather at the instalations of the hotel ‘El Montanyà’ this week. The aim is to have an in depth physical preparation, the key to the team reaching the ideal fitness to last the whole season.

Pre-season change

Even though the work has been well spread out since the end of the last campaign, there are some changes. “At long last we will take part in the Club World Cup in Reus-announced Paüls-. Therefore it will be a heavier pre-season than we expected.”

Apart from the Clubs’ World Cup, Barça Sorli Discau will take part in the Vigo International Tournament, a classic in the pre-season calendar.

Next week the players will train daily in Palau. These sessions will be combined with friendly matches that will allow the team to develop before the official games.

“Anyway we all know that our objectives are the OK league and the King’s Cup and we have to be at our best for these finals”, assumed the Barça manager.

The four juniors

Ferran Rosas, Lluís Ferrer, Marçal Cuenca and Carles Grau are the four players from the junior team who will work with the seniors during the pre-season. Carles Grau , from Lloret is this seasons signing for the position of goalkeeper. These four boys have a golden opportunity to show off their skills. “We hope they are on the same form as their predecessors”, explains Quim Paüls. Last season Jordi Ferrer, Gerard Vergès, Cristian Rodríguez and Borja de Ramon made the most of it and have signed for teams in the OK league.

In fact, the roller hockey first team still has the same squad as last season. “We think we have a strong enough team. We will use the reserves in case we have any setbacks, like last year. It worked last year and I hope that this year goes the same. In this respect I’m very calm”, affirms the Barça manager.