Professional footballers

This historic zornotzarra adventure in professional football brings some changes. The most significant was the forced move to compete in LaLiga Smartbank, leaving Urritxe aside to play in Lezama. The blue house is now their training ground, and the ambigu has been transformed into the press room. But they have not been the only alterations that the Amorebieta has suffered. In this case, your players, since Six of the architects of the heroic promotion to the Second Division have had to temporarily put their respective jobs to rest, to dedicate themselves 100% to the beautiful game. Morning training has prevented them from combining their professions with elite football. From training at 4:30 p.m. last year in Second B, they have gone on to exercise at 10:00 this year. Although some of them miss their previous jobs, all agree that life has turned out for the better. Of course, the atmosphere has not changed in Urritxe, where the closeness, humility and friendship among the entire staff.

Iñigo Orozko (Donostia, 28 years old) he lives his first experience in the elite in this his fourth season in Amorebieta. Last year, when he played 26 games scoring a goal, it was Professor of Secondary Education of Biology and Geology in an institute. Something that did not pose any difficulty for semi-professional football, since he left at 2:00 p.m., ate at home, and came to train without any problem. “It has been a drastic change, it changes your life totally. The life of a professional player is about training and being available for the club. But then you also have a lot of time for yourself and for leisure, “confesses Orozko. He also assures that he misses teaching a little: “It is still early, but maybe later in March if I miss it more”. He is clear that when his stage in elite football ends, he will return “as one more”.

Koldo Obieta (Gernika, 28 years old) also served as High School teacher making substitutions, even sometime in Bachelor. Like Orozko, his hours from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. allowed him to attend work sessions. The top gunner of the Blues also makes his debut in the elite, after having scored four goals in the 25 games in which he participated last year of promotion. “You miss the kids, the teachers, but I don’t miss the fact of getting up at 7 in the morning at all “Obi confirms with a laugh. He has no doubt that the change has been for the better: “Life changes in the aspect that you have to focus much more on football, give more importance to food and rest, but training in the mornings with the afternoons off is very well”. Even so, he knows that sooner or later he will teach again because “football is not for life.”

Gorka Larrucea (Gernika, 28 years old) It is the third of the three blue ones that were dedicated to teaching, in his case Primary and Infant Education teacher. His schedule was a little tighter, since it ended at 4:30 p.m. and “he came very close to training.” In his second season as a zornotzarra player, his first as a professional, he continues to be a key player in midfield, where last year he played 25 games and scored two goals. In the case of not achieving the desired permanence in LaLiga Smartbank, Larru “I would try to extend the experience in professional football as long as possible, because the other, after all, you already have assured”. Along the lines of his teammates, the Gernikarra midfielder believes that he is experiencing a change in everything: “Your job is football, and life changes for the better.”

Mikel Saizar (Ibarra, 38 years old) is he the only one of these six players who had already experienced elite football, both First and Second. But, in turn, it is the one that has noticed the most change in his life this year, since before he had hardly any free time: “In the mornings I went to the family pastry shop in Tolosa to work several hours, from 8:00 to 10:00 Then in the afternoon I would come to train at Urritxe and then I would run first to train the Eibar female at 7:00 pm “. Busy days that ended at 23:00 and confesses that they left him “sunk, like the Titanic”. Hero of Viverazo and fundamental for Amorebieta to be making history in the silver category, he played 25 games in which he barely picked up the ball from his goal 21 times. Saizar is clear that “the change has been for the better, so you can live to be 80 years old.” Despite feeling satisfied with your current lifestyle: “I miss training with the girls a bit, because we had a good time, but I still have the bakery where I help from time to time”. Saizar does not hesitate to affirm that “I do not consider what to do if we do not maintain ourselves, because we will achieve permanence.”

Mikel Zarrabeitia (Galdakao, 28 years old), for his part, he had been for about a year gym monitor in Amorebieta. He did not have a defined schedule: “I would go in the mornings and sometimes I would also do a few hours in the afternoon. I combined it well with football, because since there was another member in the gym, we divided ourselves depending on whether I had to train or not.” Unlike most, Zarra does not consider excessive the change that has undergone in his life: “The only thing is training in the morning and that you have the afternoon free. Besides, being from the town, I have not noticed much difference”. Likewise, the right-handed winger ensures: “I miss it because teaching sports is something I have always liked, apart from the fact that it was a local gym And there were people you know who you are friends with. “Zarra is clear that his return to work will depend on how long the adventure in top-level football lasts.

Unai Marino (Ondarroa, 21 years old) he worked in his cousin’s gym like crossfit coach. Thanks to his four-hour day, from 8:30 to 12:30, the young goalkeeper ondarrutarra combined it perfectly with modest football. Even so, nowadays, when he has free time, he goes to visit, to see his friends and his cousin. “You have to dedicate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to this, but we are privileged for it”, says Marino about what the category jump has meant in his life. “The day that, if we go downstairs, and if time permits, I would go back to work.” Like Zarra, the goalkeeper of the Blues does not notice much of the change: “I’m still the same with my friends and my family in my town. The only thing, the schedules, but we continue to enjoy and be the same as before. “