With feet right on the ground and a fighter speech, João Pedro Vieira talks about Elite Camp, the Formation of Friends and the future of the senior female team

João Pedro Vieira is a trainer used to pressure and some ask if he can live without it. Having led several CAB Plantiles who won important titles for the club's history, the coach again takes over the women's team with the clear objective of adding more trophies to the beautiful friends' estate. Açorian by birth but Madeirense by marriage and by heart, João Pedro Vieira is also the father of two teenagers, Margarida and Inês, both CAB players, of course! The CAB's Official Site sat with the leader of the women's team for an open conversation on various topics. Here is the record of this dialogue: As head of the female sector of Elite Camp, what ideas do you draw from the two weeks of work on the athletes who participated? These two weeks have essentially served to work more intensively on certain aspects of the offensive individual technique. Of course, we have also developed a work that aims to provide our athletes, especially the younger ones, with tools to be able to develop both their motor skills and their technical capabilities on their own, especially with regard to the foundations related to launching, booting and attacks on the basket in general. I can say that the balance is positive where the athletes who were invited all attended, except for one for having undergone an appendix surgery. Is it possible to infer that the future of the senior female CAB team can pass through some of the athletes who have integrated this Elite Camp? In this year's edition we have some players who are able to be part of our senior team in the future. However, even those who are more advanced still have a lot of work to do, but with dedication and determination they can get there. Is the CAB’s dependence on the fruits of its Training superior to that of the other League teams? It is true that CAB has formed many athletes who play in our club and others who today play in other clubs in Portugal. Most of the women's league clubs have done a job of having athletes from their senior team. The CAB is one of the clubs in Portugal that has more athletes from its Formation year after year, for which the satellite team project has been very important. Is the new model organized by the club board for training a positive step? Of course. That's the way. All organizations must work towards having more and more specialised human resources in their staff, with each working in the area where it is best and thus contributing to the main objectives of their organisation. It is impossible to evolve into an organization where only one or two people do everything. How is the next season's women's team being prepared? We are building the squad of the next season very carefully, with the pressure to know that they cannot fail in foreign players, because financial rigour does not allow. We have assumed our main objective, which is to win titles, and that of national champions is the main achievement. We have a huge responsibility to try to re-validate the three titles won last season, which will be extremely difficult, because being eight without losing, thirty-four games always winning, will not happen again so soon. Even so, our ambition is great, so we're recruiting players with a big heart and a huge ambition. Does the opening of the Women's League to another community athlete enhance competitiveness? The opening of the League to community players can only be good, because gradually it will make our competition more attractive and have more quality. It takes time, but all together, we can make the Women's League a better competition, more attractive to the public and also more attractive to sponsors, which is important, because without money you can't get past a certain level. What message would you like to leave the CAB FAMILY? I leave the same message from last time: Come to the CAB Pavilion to see our games, for we will work daily to leave everything in the field in each game and, with the support of our audience, we want to give everyone many joys. Here's the invitation to fill our pavilion on October 3rd because we want to win the Super Cup.