"Tenerife Echeyde" starts in the Spanish water polo league and prepares for the European Cups.
The Tenerife Echeyde women's water polo team is starting for the fourth consecutive time in the highest Spanish league, the Division of Honor, and is preparing to participate in European cups, striving to consolidate its style of play and, despite the difficulties, compete with the Catalan teams.
The women's team "Tenerife Echeyde" will once again play among the best water polo players in Spain! This Saturday, at 12:40, they will start for the fourth time in a row in the highest national league – the Division of Honor.
The first match is away, against "Barceloneta", one of the strongest teams in the championship. It won't be easy, and both the players and coach Enrique Cruz understand this. He knows that fighting for victory in a league historically dominated by Catalan teams is not an easy task.
But "Echeyde" is gradually becoming a strong team in Spanish water polo. Their path to success has not been easy. In the first season, under the leadership of Itziar Pavón, the Tenerife team took seventh place. A year later, already with Carlos de la Torre, they rose to sixth. In both seasons, the team participated in the Queen's Cup.
Last season was tense, and "Echeyde" had to fight for survival in the play-offs, where they defeated "Rubí". It was the most difficult season in the club's history, but also one of the most memorable. "Echeyde" dreamed of Europe and reached the semi-finals of the Euro Cup, exceeding all expectations. Coach Enrique Cruz called it a "historic tournament" for the team and the club. This experience inspired them to new achievements, and this season they will play in European cups again.
The girls from "Acidalia Lorenzo" will participate in the LEN Conference Cup – a new tournament that is the third tier in European water polo. This is a great opportunity for the "Guayotas" to show their progress. From November 14 to 16, the Tenerife team will travel to Sicily, where they will play against the Italian "Brizz Pallanuoto", the Portuguese "Fluvial" and the Turkish "Dalton Koleji SK". "Returning to Europe is a great incentive for us," says Cruz. "It makes our project very attractive in sporting terms."
For the coach from Seville, participation in European cups is "the fruit of a job well done", a well-deserved reward for the efforts of a team that, despite the difficulties, has been able to compete with stronger rivals. "Getting to Europe is very difficult," he emphasizes, "but we must try to achieve as much as possible, step by step."
Enrique Cruz begins his second season at the helm of "Echeyde". He wants to "consolidate the style of play" that began to take shape last year. "The first year was an adaptation, both mine to the players and theirs to me. Now we want the team to have its own style," he says. Dynamism, intensity and courage are what will distinguish "Echeyde". "We like to counterattack and maintain a high pace throughout the match," he emphasizes.
"Echeyde" 25/26 is a renewed team. Six new players have joined: Ainoa Pinar, Julia Rodriguez, Rene de Klerk, Marta Madre, Daniela Vomastkova and Elena Camarena (will join in January). The team also includes experienced players such as Marin Dempsey, Mellory Reynoso, Irene Costa, Julia Bennasar, Maria Ramos, Macu Bello, Carla Martin, Natalia Naya and Aora Rodriguez. According to the coach, this is a combination of youth, experience and international level, which "has adapted very well and fits perfectly into the style."
Cruz says that the team is "very cohesive, very homogeneous, despite the changes," and the adaptation process has been easier than he expected. Preparation for the season, including a training camp in Portugal, left him with "positive feelings," although he regrets that the team did not play enough matches against league rivals.
As every season, the main goal in the Division of Honor is to maintain a place in the league. "With our capabilities on the island, it is impossible to set more ambitious goals today," the coach concludes. He means that the club, headed by David Rivas, is forced to compete on unequal terms. The women's Division of Honor is dominated by Catalan teams, which have more talent, infrastructure and resources. Nine of the twelve teams in the league are from Catalonia. This shows how difficult it is to maintain a competitive project on the island, with all the logistical and structural constraints. But that is why "Echeyde's" achievements deserve special respect.