Ricardo Alonso, the “Galician” who leads the fight to promote wheelchair handball in Spain

Richi Alonso (Madrid, 1970) is the alma mater of the newly established Spanish wheelchair handball team. His tasks for the development of this discipline are several: player, coach and promoter.

The technician has between the eyebrows adding teams to this modality. His agenda is increasingly filled with meetings in Zaragoza, Seville and other parts of the country. In Galicia, the country of his parents that he feels is his own, he admits contacts with the re-elected president of the Handball Federation of Galicia, Bruno López. “We have been trying to get together for a long time. I have more free time in March and I would like to talk to him,” says Alonso. In the Portuguese municipality of Leira, the Spanish national team won fourth continental and fifth global places at the European and World Championships. “I am proud of my players,” said Alonso, who insisted, noting that the members of this team have been training and playing for a little more than a year, much less than the other powers. In the fight for fifth place, they struggled to come back from the last game against Croatia, but they managed to win minimally and squeeze into the top five the best teams on the planet.

Among their goals, they hope to be able to match the strength of teams like Portugal, their most formidable rivals. “We started by winning games against them, but the problem is the average age. Ours is 52 years old, and his is 30. Even though it’s an adapted sport, it shows,” says the Vigo resident, who wanted to focus exclusively on his coaching work at this tournament. His team has a full schedule of friendlies and they hope to close another match against the Portuguese in the month of May in Palencia. Among the team members is the Cantabrian Óscar Perales, a former player with experience in the Asobal League and one of the participants of the tournament. Another player, Miguel García Gomar, managed to become the top scorer.

Player in the Chapel

Alonso never left handball. From his beginnings, with occasional stints in the Atlético de Madrid academy, to his retirement at the age of 28, he went through several First and Second national teams, including Chapela.

“He had five injuries to his right knee. After graduation, my left one came out. I had practically no cartilage and they put a prosthesis on me – recalled the coach who worked in the central position on the track.

Currently, his routine as a coach takes place between Valladolid and the Madrid municipality of Parla. He coaches two handball teams in wheelchairs.

Each player has a certain score based on their level of disability. Players with less mobility score less points. In total, each team can have an exact score on the field of play. For this reason, Alonso prepares group trainings, as well as specific ones. “On a tactical level, each player has a different mission, but the physical aspect is practically the same for everyone,” says the Galician-born coach. There are also some basic guidelines. For example, less mobile players must receive the ball (smaller than the prescribed size for men’s handball) with a bouncing pass.

There are other variations compared to the conventional one. Each team has seven players on the field, one less than in the classic mode. In addition, since it is a mixed sport, it is mandatory that there is always one athlete of each gender on the field.

The team has physiotherapists for the players and mechanics for the chairs. An essential element for the modality that aspires to be Paralympic at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.