Roberto Rodrigues defends ambition and demand as master lines in the preparation of the new era

In the form of a balance of the senior teams' seasons, the CAB Official Site came to the talk with Roberto Rodrigues. The Vice President for Sports Management makes a pragmatic analysis of the year 2015-2016 and leaves a message of confidence for 2016-2017. Faithful in his style, Roberto Rodrigues points out the lines that are being considered by the club's Board for the next sports year, promising a lot of personal commitment, but also demand from the club leaders of all those who take responsibility for the sport representation of the club, including the one made at the highest level. Here's the record of the conversation: What balance does it make from the time it ended? As a result of the last survey, during the course of the period, I focused on the date when it was below expectations, and unfortunately the same was true. At the male level, although the team had "found" in the final line and was certainly the best team in the 2nd stage, in group 2, the accumulated results of the 1st stage, ultimately determined that we had not achieved the goal of participating in the playoffs. At the female level, despite the setbacks and the team having hit each other properly at the Final Four, it was not possible to win the title of national champion, an objective that we had proposed at the beginning of the season. What lessons of this time will be used in the preparation of 2016-2017? The main lessons to be learned from the time that has now ended are the improvement in the choice of athletes, especially foreigners, because both male and female, it is a crucial moment for the quality of the plants, especially in the Women's League, so it should be a weighted choice, analyzed and with as much information as possible, because in addition to the costs associated with possible exchanges of athletes, there are also difficulties of emotional and competitive stability. Along with the improvement in athletes' choice, the balance in the establishment of the plant, with alternative choices, should also be a reality in order to avoid being limited in any circumstances in pursuit of the goals outlined. What are the goals that will guide the club's participation in national races? The objectives of our senior teams should be the same as those of previous years: at the female level, they should go through the achievement of all the competitions where we will participate; as far as men are concerned, they should go through participation in the high points of the various competitions, with emphasis on the presence in the ‘playoffs’ and’ from these presences, always being competitive models to eliminate’ one of these, despite the difficulty of ‘out-of-the-book’ investments made by the only truly professional teams, namely Benfica and Porto. What impact could the legislation on the use of non-Madeiran athletes have? I will give a personal answer to this question and not really to the position I hold at the directional level, thus being impartial in the analysis. The valuing of the Madeiran athlete is something that must be done and, when we invest financially in sport, even more important is this appreciation. However, I believe that this legislation that will come into force should take account of certain aspects: First, to carry out a gradual implementation, pointing out a time when all teams/clubs could adapt towards the goal, because the existence of pre-accompanied commitments could go into ‘shock’ and create penalties for clubs that did not know that such a change would occur. Secondly, it does not guarantee territorial continuity for a non-Madeiran worker, only for students, and we know that, especially at the level of education, every year they arrive and leave ‘non-Madeiran’ to work in RAM, which, if they wish to make their contribution to regional sport, no club can ‘accept’ under penalty of being cut off from public subsidies, all of which are important to the activities that the clubs carry out daily. Is the measure penalizing the CAB Women's Team? On the basis of the above, the measure for the CAB’s Women’s Team is indeed penalising, since the existence of pre-established commitments with some ‘non-Madeirense’ athletes leaves two questions to the Board if this does not change: meeting commitments and bringing about financial consequences (which will certainly not be the best option, bearing in mind the importance of public grants for the club, especially for the existing activity in the formation and support of an own infrastructure that few have, without any extra value) or cancel commitments and lead to any legal consequences thereof. Once again, a transition process would be the best option... What expectations of the CAB Tournament? This will be a more challenging CAB Tournament than the previous years, with more teams, more athletes and companions, more games, more activities, more stays and that will surely require greater coordination and more schedules, which will culminate in another great event for the entire sports training of our athletes, but also social and personal. It will also be a renowned event for Funchal and for our island, as the return of these participants as tourists will be a second step towards the tourist promotion of Madeira. What message would you like to leave the CAB FAMILY? At this time the message to leave the whole CAB FAMILY is union: union around all the work done with our Training and senior teams, union in the day-to-day life between heads of education, trainers, staff, management and union in the future to be drawn, even with the sharing of opinions for an ever better future for all.