Lucas Victoriano, the record holder who left his family in Europe to become champion in Argentina: “A coach must be an example”

Lucas Victoriano left Venado Tuerto at the age of 15. She grabbed a bag full of clothes and left behind her people and the places where she was happy. He set out in search of a dream he had as a boy, that of succeeding in basketball, something that he would end up achieving by far to enter the history of sport at national level. Many years later, now in his role as a coach, fate has given him a second chapter of uprooting. And another wink of glory. Last year, Victoriano had to leave his family again: daughter and wife remained in Spain, where the former basketball player spent most of his career and lived, while he agreed to return to Argentina to drive Cordoba Institute.

When he took office in June 2021, the great goal of the man from Tucuman and his team was to take his team to the top of the local tournament as part of an overall project. done. Last Monday he led Gloria to her first National League. Under her eyes there are two deep dark circles that attract anyone’s attention. They are not painted. I’m not there just because. It’s the fatigue, stress, and anxiety that come with trying to play an extremely challenging playoff series against Quimsa de Santiago del Estero.

Frequent video calls with daughter Carlota and wife have been a comfort in this difficult phase. In this way she feels close to her family and the thousands of kilometers that separate them are momentarily canceled.

In dialogue with Clarionethe coach of the Institute, recent champion of the National Basketball League, tells us about the engine that drives him every day: “I can’t give my daughter anything if I’m not full“, He says.

The Tucuman coach confirms with a strong and determined look: “I left my daughter in Europe because I believe that the path I chose to grow as a coach needs it. And Carlota’s mother, also a former player, understands this. complicated to say ‘I am moving away from the most sacred to continue my career’ “.

When Victoriano took over in June 2021, the big goal was to take his team to the top of the local tournament and fight for the Play-Offs series. He did it and became champion. Just a few days ago I drove the Glory at his first local tournament in the club’s history and became the first person to win it as a player and as a manager.

Under his eyes there are two deep dark circles that attract anyone’s attention. They are not painted and they are not there for the fun of it. It is the exhaustion, stress and anxiety that have come at the height of the busy season. But this is the path you have chosen.

Lucas knows he “can’t give anything” to his daughter if “she’s not well”. That’s why he quit his job in Madrid as a TV commentator, he stepped away from comforts and wore a suit to chase his dreams. “A coach cannot keep his hands in his pockets asking players to dive upside down.. Everything you do has to be an example, “she adds.

-How do you manage the pressure in a final?

-My concentration technique today is not the same as in my first championship. I still have the player’s techniques. We are a young team that is just starting the project. We have been working together for eight months. In stressful situations you have to know yourself with your team, with your club, with yourself. And then you also need to know how to cancel. That’s why a game went wrong for you and you have to start over.

– Does your experience as a player help you?

-When I was an asshole I was completely crazy. I didn’t know if I was playing the final or not. I just wanted to play. That is why it is now difficult to ask kids who have never experienced it to know how to act in these situations.

-You also had a very important change in your game …

– When my back almost pulled me back, at that moment I said “Oops, what’s going to happen when it’s over”. A lot of fears came suddenly and I went from being that fearless and fearless person to thinking about the future. Before I was very athletic and with problems I stopped being such a scorer and started playing another game as an assistant. I started playing in another way, for others. This gets you to know the game better. Having a lot of passion for sport makes me look at everything and never stop. Sometimes I find myself giving my opinion on Real Madrid football, for example.

– You seem comfortable driving. Is that so?

-I like to drive, but without invading. Everyone has the role of him and I have to help him do it in the best way. There are times when I need to direct the energies of the players, which often have them in any direction. And also that at the same time they don’t feel comfortable because the next day, after reaching the goal, you have to look for something new.

As a coach, in addition to his experience at the Instituto, where he already won the Super 20 tournament last year and this National League, the 44-year-old from Tucuman headed Regatas de Corrientes, Estudiantes de Concordia and Pozuelo CB from Spain.

An Olympic backbone.

inside the parquet, Luca Vittoriano will be remembered as one of the founders of the Golden generation. One of the members who won the gold medal at the 2001 FIBA ​​Americas Championship and the silver medal at the 2002 World Championship. But his outstanding debt is to play Olympic Games. He was unable to do this as a player due to a back injury.

– Do you think about the Argentine national team?

– I take it as a dream. That yes, I want to be prepared if it comes out. If they call me from the CBA, from anywhere, I always want to be prepared. But I’m not going crazy with the national team. If there is an opportunity who does not want to be. Now, I want to do the Olympic Games. If it’s not as a coach, as an assistant coach, or as an assistant, I will do it as a coach. But I’ll go to the Olympics, I’m sure.

– Did it hurt you to stay out of Athens 2004?

– I suffered a lot. Halfway through the season we talked to Rubén (Magnano). But he didn’t have such an important role in the team. It has been sung that I go. Herrmann and Delfino were airplanes. It was logical that there was a change of at least two players, not the hard core. I don’t even feel guilty, or resentful, or anything. I automatically became one more fan of the Argentine national team. I have a lot of respect for Rubén. I think he did what he had to do. He didn’t stay in my head.

– How were your first steps in Real Madrid?

– At that time it was more difficult to enter the club. It was being on top of the mountain all at once. And when you get out of there, everything seems to plummet down the mountain. A failure. I started very high and then it was very hard to tell my head that I wasn’t taking a step back when I changed clubs. I was in a process. But at that moment, when I left Madrid, I said ‘I’m not ready to be here’. And obviously he wasn’t prepared, he was very stupid.

Was it difficult for you to mentally adjust to that change?

– It took me a long time alone to Madrid. Without family, without friends who are the ones who balance you and line up your ducklings. With 19 years, being very young.

– Something similar happened to Fabricio Oberto …

– Yes, in Greece. But I didn’t know I was depressed until I got over it. And the same when I retired. But there were already other media there, I talked to professionals, something else. But in that formative stage not being with the planets aligned is tricky, because you can shoot anywhere. More playing in Madrid with pocket money and fame. It was dangerous. But it was also the biggest thing that happened to me. I had a seven-year relationship with the club. I feel part of the club’s history. They always protect former players. It is a model club in every sense of the word.

Away from the family.

Across the ocean is his wife Paula Palomares Courageous, former basketball player; and his daughter Carlotta. He communicates with both of them daily via video calls. Both are more than 10 thousand kilometers away from each other. After winning the championship at the Quimsa stadium, Santiago del Estero, he remembered them despite the distance.

– Your family is in Europe, you left them there to be a coach. But a long time ago you did something similar: you left your parents to become a professional player.

– Yes. When I was 15 I left Venado Tuerto and my old man and my old woman stopped seeing me. That trip is bullshit because you take a bag and say “I’m going for my dream”. If things go well for you, you don’t come back, and if things go bad for you, you become a failure. So you don’t want any of these things to happen. When you part, you learn to strengthen the heart.

– And now how did you do it?

– With Carlota’s mother, who also played basketball, it’s a little easier. Because there are also networks and video calls. Now, when I’m done, I’ll spend three months by her side all the time. It is very difficult. When there is a difficult situation in the club I say ‘Flaco, I left my daughter to stay here’. It is very difficult to find a more difficult excuse than to leave a daughter to go to work. But I know it’s a path.

This week, Lucas Victoriano became champion as the coach of the Institute. It made history, it is the first National League for those from Upper Córdoba. Albirrojos fans chant his name at the Ángel Sandrín stadium. His players put him on the bench, on and off the pitch. His daughter and wife smile at him in every video call despite the 10,000 kilometers away.

But today’s smiles hide yesterday’s tears. It was all a process of work and sacrifice. Before the fifth final, the definitive one, you received a special visit in Alta Córdoba. He was her father. The one who fired him at 15 and with a bag full of dreams. Today he receives a 44-year-old man with a trophy under his arm.