At the age of 75, most people have long left their professional life behind. Aito Garcia Reneses has traveled a lot in the past twelve months since retiring from Alba Berlin, photographing birds and architecture, relaxing in his native Spain. But the legendary coach couldn’t do without basketball. First he occasionally attended youth basketball events, now he is even returning to professional sports. From the coming season he will train the Catalan promoted Basquet Girona. This is a gift for the club and for basketball as a whole, because you could still learn a lot from Aito, as he is reverently called, in a hundred years, about basketball, but also about life.
Especially in a sport in which many coaches loudly steer their players from the sidelines as if they were sitting in front of the Playstation, Aito stands out pleasantly. He is more a teacher than a coach, primarily relies on personal responsibility and development, not on success at any price – and always remains a perfect gentleman.
With the move to Girona, a circle closes. Aito returns to Spain, to the ACB, which he has shaped like no other over the past few decades. The club’s founder, president and, last season, center player is Spanish basketball icon Marc Gasol. His older brother once helped Aito make his professional debut. That was almost 25 years ago, Pau Gasol has now ended his career – only Aito has not had enough.
