“I am very proud because I opened doors for women’s sports, and I continue to open them ten years after my retirement,” she said.
The Madrid player joins Emiliano Rodríguez, Fernando Martín and Epi as the only Spanish players on the illustrious list
MADRID, 2 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Former basketball player Amaya Valdemoro stated that being the first Spaniard to enter the FIBA Hall of Fame “is ‘milk'”, and declared herself “very proud” for continuing to “open doors” for women’s sports ten years later to culminate a career in which she won three WNBA rings and a Eurobasket, among other merits.
“I have felt very happy and very sad. I remembered my father, who always accompanied me to all the awards. It has been a fundamental part of my career. I’ve been crying all morning, but being the first Spanish is ‘the milk’ I am very proud,” she said in statements to Europa Press.
Amaya Valdemoro, who is the fourth Spanish player on the illustrious list -which also includes coach Antonio Díaz Miguel and ‘contributors’ Anselmo López and Raimundo Saporta- of the FIBA Hall of Fame confessed that he did not expect the news.
“The ceremony in Manila is going to be spectacular. They are going to invite me to the first game in a stadium for 55,000 spectators. It is recognition of a whole career. At the stage in which I played there was not so much exposure in the media and women’s sports I had poor visibility,” he said.
In this sense, Valdemoro declared himself “very happy” because this entry into the FIBA Hall of Fame reaches many more people. “I retired ten years ago and it means a lot to be in this group of athletes. It helps a lot to make the image of women’s sport much more visible. When I think about my career, I haven’t had as much exposure, but I have opened many doors, and I keep opening them”, he celebrated.
The exalero from Madrid expressed her desire for the recognition to rescue her figure from the past. “I hope young people see Amaya’s VHS videos. In my generation we have fought a lot to make basketball bigger. In the end we have transmitted that level of competitiveness that has set us apart from other teams,” she stressed.