No way; there is so much more to this young lady than just her world-championship-level padel victories!

Following up on the article about the recent ceremony where the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) recognised our local young sportswomen and men, I thought readers might be interested in hearing something about one of the adolescents who has already achieved so much in the area of sport.

Cristina Torrecillas Romero may be only 14, but she has trained and travelled for padel, not just throughout Andalusia and Spain; but she has also competed in a World Championship padel competition in Argentina. Both at the Andalusian championships and in the international heats last year, she won the title of ‘Subcampeona infantil’ (runner-up in the youngest competing category of 12-18 year olds).

Now, it’s not that Cristina dedicates her life to nothing else. So her success has never been to the detriment of her schoolwork or her social life. The great thing about sporting enthusiasts like Cristina (and she is by no means alone in having these qualities in Almuñécar) is that they are young, full of energy and interested in pursuing many different activities.

Being competitive, they are more likely to succeed in all sorts of areas of life. And of course, knowing Cristina’s parents, they are even more vigilant than most in ensuring that their children keep their eye firmly on the academic ball, as well as the sporting ball!

Not so long ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Cristina to get a better insight into just what level of dedication it takes to succeed in sport, not just locally, but abroad, at such an early stage in life.

Although Cristina started tennis some years ago, it’s only been during the past four years that she has played padel, a game which is most popular in Spain, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, but is really starting to take off in other continents.

Every year, she attends a camp where techniques are improved and intensive training takes place in Andalusia. But it’s not only her holiday time which Cristina sacrifices in order to bring her to world class level; every week, she trains at least four hours and this increases during high season, where she can easily spend every weekend away at various games, regional and national competitions.

But it’s not all hard work, Cristina confesses, as she gets to meet so many people, has the stability of one great partner at regional level (from Córdoba) and another at national level (from Madríd). Also her family do all they can to accompany her to matches and I suppose it would be fair to say that they are her number-one fans! It’s quite difficult to maintain the pace, indicates her Mum, Ángela, as it’s not just the time commitment, but also the financial input from the family.

There is a modest grant from the Junta de Andalucia, but all that this covers in reality is the price of the coaches who help with training. The rest is down to her family and whatever funds they can raise.

So is Cristina discouraged by the outlook of the future of sport in Almuñécar? Not at all.

It’s clear that there needs to be more support from the powers that be, for coaches, for trips, for holding competitions locally, but also perhaps the local government can stand up and take notice of what I believe is a clear way out of crisis here: directing funds intelligently into sport can only make sense, especially when the raw talent exists here, as well as that huge advantage of great weather, open spaces and enthusiastic people.

I’d like to follow up this story with other sporting successes locally, so you may well be hearing more from me.

(News/Sports: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)