Juanan signs for Inter Movistar
Juanan Garcia, IFA head coach and manager of Loughborough’s Super League team in the 2016/17 season, has signed for futsal giants Inter Movistar of Madrid, to lead their U19s side in the Division the Honor Juvenil, a team that will aspire to be Spanish youth futsal national champions.
After a successful season, that saw Loughborough finishing third in the Super League and in which the Academy team reached the semifinal of the FA Futsal Cup, Juanan now leaves the students behind to work for one of the best Clubs in the World. We asked him to share his thoughts with us:
What do you know about the team you’ll be managing?
As of today, I know that lst season they finished third in the División de Honor Juvenil, and that the aim is to improve this in the upcoming season. I know we have great players for the future of the club, that soon will be on the TV screens competing as LNFS players.
How would you summarise your season at Loughborough?
Even though everything was so rushed, the language barrier and some personal medical problems, the season was satisfactory in every way. The evolution of players between the first and the last game played shows, in my opinion, what they have been training and the work completed daily.
Where do you think the International Futsal Academy is within British futsal, after leading the programme for a year?
For any English player, being in the IFA is a guarantee to progress. Just consider the workload in the programme, and that is led by coaches with great knowhow in this sport, development did, does and will happen.
If you had to chose a memory from the season, what would that be?
I have great memories, from when I arrived to Loughborough on 13th September and started with the first session already on the 14th, through the Super League knockout against Genesis or qualifying to the FA Futsal Cup Finals with the Academy team. My best memory comes though from a game in which we were not playing for anything but at the same time we were playing for everything, taking the team in a very bad place and managing to return confidence to the players, helping them believe they could achieve anything they aimed and managing to help them win a game fying for forty minutes, without a goalkeeper. This is only within the reach of great players.
What’s your impression of English futsal now?
English futsal’s main problem is the competition organisation. Management should be open to new ideas and accept concepts that may help them develop the game, which can be very different from the preconceived ideas they might bring from football. Regarding players’ potential, the raw material is there so the potential is there, but now investment on their development is needed.
How do you feel about your new adventure at Inter Movistar?
I started in this sport full of hopes and dreams. Events occur in succession, and now I see myself yet in another one of them. And I’ll endeavour to put in practice everything I’ve learned as a coach, stepping forward into one of the greatest challenges I’ve ever had.
What are your ambitions for the future? What’s the dream?
Right now I can only think on this season. We start 14th August, and I want to do my best to keep reaching milestones. As a dream, right now probably unrealistic, it could be to manage a LNFS team, but that’s something I don’t think about at the moment.
What would you like to say to Loughborough and IFA players ahead of the new season?
Loughborough and IFA players have a huge potential. They need to keep on working in the same line collectively, to keep evolving and improving in the upcoming season. They need to always trust they can achieve any target they set themselves.
From the International Futsal Academy we want to wish Juanan the best luck in this new adventure at Inter Movistar
