Meet the senior players (II): Xavi Costa

"Few of us imagined at the beginning of the season that the team would develop as it has"

| Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Xavi Costa (Badalona, ​​1984) accumulated 16 seasons and almost 450 games in FEB competitions, mostly in the EBA League, after forming between Sant Josep de Badalona and FC Barcelona. This year, it is the first time that his father, Quim Costa, has been his coach. Resident in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, he combines basketball with his job as a telecommunications engineer in a company in Vilablareix. In the image, sitting on the steps of Sant Martí, next to Le Bistrot.

-How are you doing at the club?

“The truth is that very well. From the player’s point of view, everything is positive feedback. Everyone cares a lot about us. The level of involvement of all the people who make up the club is very high and this is contagious. It generates a excitement that makes you really enjoy training. In addition, we have been lucky, and I say this from experience, that the group of people in the team is very good. We help each other in everything we do missing”.

-You have the particularity that your father is the technician. How are you doing?

“At the beginning of the season, I didn’t think it would be that easy. My main concern was that my teammates wouldn’t see this factor as an advantage over them. So, from day one, I’ve tried to be the first in terms of demand , involvement and work. That no one could hold anything against me. Luckily, basketball has always been in my house and my father’s way of looking at things, his philosophy, is permeated in my genes. This he makes it easy to implement what he asks. Also, when the team or a teammate has a problem, I feel confident to talk to him about it without any problem.”

-How do you see the team and its evolution?

“Personally, I think few of us imagined that the team would develop as it has. In the beginning, it was very complicated. The squad closed very late and we had to quickly change the chip to understand exactly what Quim was asking us. Then , we hit cruising speed and started to climb positions. But, in such a young team, the mental aspect is key and the ups and downs are a normal aspect that we are learning to minimize. Now we enter the final part of the season and, if we manage to keep the rigor in the work and control the mental aspect to be focused on the important things, you’ll know how far we’ll be able to go.”

A place in Girona to get lost in: Any of the bridges over the Onyar river.

A current basketball player you identify with: With two of my former teammates at Sabadell Sant Nicolau who are now in the ACB, Pierre Oriola and Joan Pardina. I like to think that I helped them, even if it’s just a little bit, to succeed the way they are doing. And I wish the same for my current colleagues in the future.

The last book you read : “The invisible border”, by Kilian Jornet

One  hobbies : My garden and my chickens. They are a lot of work, but I love spending hours on them with my son Nil helping me.

A life motto : Whatever you do, do it with enthusiasm, with your head and with your heart. In this way, you will manage to be happy.

A sport, aside from basketball : I think I’m getting older because I like Trail-running more and more.

The best basketball player in history : I’m one of those people who thinks it’s impossible to say that Michael Jordan was better than Magic Johnson, or vice versa. The two were different, unique. The best.  

A dream to fulfill : To see Nil and Aina, my children, grow up happy.

A team : The Dream Team of Barcelona ’92 that I was able to see live.

A movie : “The Matrix”.