From a humble dirt field to a colossal growth of the club that has allowed it to have more than 400 chips: this has been the incredible transformation of the Lezkairu Sports Club in its 40 years of history. What began as a dream of a few football enthusiasts is today a reality that has united entire generations of players. A journey that tells us about effort, passion and how a small seed can become a leafy tree. All of this, obviously, thanks to the tireless and selfless work of a group of people always led by José María Gárriz, president of the club.
“Before Remacha, I had a youth team that did not work well and I had to remove it. Some brothers, Enrique and Juan Lacuey, came later. I met Juan when he was sixteen years old from Remacha, from the school in Biurdana. They started to play badly, there were no people. Enrique, who was very talented, and a good coach – everything was studied without having a title – made a sheet with all the data. He started by calling the ones he had, ten, eleven players… that’s how it started.. Then, we even took people from NGOs, from the house without borders, which was called,” the president begins by telling us about the beginnings of the club.
Asking about the evolution of Lezkairu, Gárriz comments that “we rose through the categories and reached First Regional. We paid a coach 80,000 pesetas then from his license. The season didn’t start because he went to Osasuna, and he had to take the Regional Pedro Amiano. We’ve been there for 40 years and now we have to kick people out. There is no room, and the City Council does not do more. Yes, he did a project with two soccer fields, a sports center, and some municipal swimming pools. I already say that I will end my life and I will not see it. But now we are functioning very well thanks to the board of directors. I am delighted with the board I have now. “People are very happy.”
However, this growth has reached a limit that, unintentionally, has become an obstacle. “Now we have a lot of people, that’s the difference. We don’t have room. The City Council project was in the neighborhood association. Some people complain, but there is no room. They have not changed our grass since the field was inaugurated. They put flaps on us, like they do on pants. There is nothing more to do, there is, at the moment, no more solution,” laments the president.
“Before it was sandy, it was difficult for people to come. Now it’s wonderful. It was starting to grow, and we’re not growing anymore because we don’t have room. We have the philosophy that every boy or girl can play soccer regardless of their level up to 11-a-side soccer. We do not do tests. And, now, we have a very young neighborhood that in the coming years will increase the demand for kids who want to sign up. It would be a shame not to be able to accommodate residents of the neighborhood. I have realized that there are three municipal fields: Rotxapea, San Jorge, and ours. Ours has 34, 35 teams playing on the weekend, and more teams training. In San Jorge, for example, fewer teams play or in the Rotxapea it is not open on Sundays. It is very unbalanced and it is not enough,” the president continues.
Continuing with the idea of this growth, Gárriz points directly to the exact moment in which the field changes. “And we knew we were going to go further. We are also Liceo Monjardín, Mendillorri, Escolapios, Paderborn… a lot of teams to which we added four from Boscos that play on Sunday,” he adds.
Asked about the future of Lezkairu, which is already looking towards half a century of life, Gárriz comments that “The club will grow as far as the field and the City Council leave us. We can’t do more than they let us. The objective would be to go up in youth and regional and, above all, to continue promoting the practice of sports among the boys and girls of the neighborhood.”
A change from within
Pablo Asier Ovelar has been linked to Lezkairu for sixteen seasonsfifteen of them as a player and now he has started his career on the bench. He, who arrived in the second year of the youth camp, can tell from within the evolution of the club that has captured him and cannot leave it.
“At first, when I arrived, I played for San Agustín. I was disappearing and a friend hooked me up to come here. I made friends, I have had a chance to leavebut I have never taken the definitive step because I was very comfortable and the club has been taking steps, growing very quickly. I felt like leaving, so I’m still here,” he says, smiling.
Asked how he has experienced the change and growth of the club from within, Ovelar acknowledges that “it has been amazing. When we started, there was only one team per category. We didn’t even have 7-a-side football and we were on a dirt field. Now, since the new field was built, you see how the club has grown until there are almost 500 players. The club has become in Preferente, which not even Remacha could have imagined before. “I feel part of this and I feel super proud.”
“It’s very little time and it’s almost dizzying. You see the youth team, which has even reached the National League, and when I played… we were almost the worst team in Navarra. You see that we have reached the finals of the Regional Cup… it is a little dizzying to think where we come from. We were Remacha, and now it is a club that is respected, that has a base, that organizes tournaments and we also go to those outside… It’s amazing,” he adds.
Finally, when asked what makes Lezkairu special, Ovelar details that “it is a very family club. When I arrived, I remember that they told me that to take a shower we had to go to the president’s farm to get the butane cylinder. Seeing now that the man is excited is a pleasure. I have known him since I was 14 years old and he is almost family.”