He seeks footballing talents in the province of Castellón while fighting leukaemia
Miguel Ángel Mesa (Castellón, 11th March 1970) is a football lover. One of those men who cannot imagine his life without the sport. He enjoyed playing it as a youngster, then as a coach and even as a coordinator in Vilafamés, where he was for decades a well-known figure in the local football scene.
Now, at 54 years of age, he combines his life as a businessman, while discovering new talents throughout the province of Castellón with Villarreal CF. A venture that he is passionate about and that gives him enough energy and optimism to keep at bay a leukaemia that he has had since 2017.
A setback that has not taken away the smile with which he expresses himself when he talks about football or his family. On the contrary, he has faced adversity with the courage and generosity to set up a charity, ASOLECAS, with which he raises funds for research into this disease and with which he provides support to those who suffer from it.
It has been 15 years since he joined the Yellow Submarine, first to coach a youth team, and then to work as an 8-a-side football scout in the province of Castellón. Since then, he has witnessed, first-hand, the growth and evolution of provincial football and hundreds of boys who have enjoyed this sport in our land during their early formative stages.
“Castellón is a small place. In provincial football, we all know each other. And even more so when you’ve been watching matches for many years,” explains Mesa, who since 2012 has dedicated his weekends to watching 8-a-side football matches all over the province.
“My wife says I don’t stop,” he says with a laugh. “I’m not going to disagree with her. During the week, I combine the business with the charity, but the weekends are for football,’ admits Mesa, who feels lucky to dedicate himself to work for a club that is as committed to youth development as Villarreal CF: ’It’s a really exciting and gratifying job to see the boys grow and to be able to give them the opportunity to continue improving in such a professional structure.”
Villarreal CF, a ‘privilege’ for football in the province of Castellón
After a lifetime dedicated to football in our province, Miguel Ángel Mesa is one of the authoritative voices to analyse the evolution of football in Castellón over the last few decades: “I would say that there are more and more teams in the area, but there are not so many players. Many teams do a great job on a social level. They open the doors of football to many children, but there are really only four or five teams like CD Roda or Primer Toque CF, which guarantee a quality of training that allows the children to improve.”
In that sense, Villarreal CF’s strong commitment to youth football is fortunate for the hundreds of talented youngsters with the ability and enthusiasm to reach professional football in the future. “Villarreal has changed everything in football in our province. There is a before and an after. Now you can be an elite player in your own land. We have gone from being an exporting territory of talent to having a structure like ours that not only channels this talent, but also promotes it to the maximum,· highlights Mesa.
It is no coincidence that, in recent years, the number of players from the province who have reached professional football has multiplied: Pau Torres, Carlo Adriano, Migue Leal and the more recent emergence of Pau Cabanes and Pau Navarro, from Burriana and La Vilavella, respectively.
Pau Navarro and how he arrived at Villarreal CF
Of the latter player, the scout from Castellón tells an amusing anecdote about how he joined Villarreal CF eleven years ago: “We saw Pau Navarro a bit by chance. That’s the kind of funny thing that fate has. We were going to watch matches in La Vall, Nules and then Onda. They cancelled the match in Nules and I went to La Vilavella to see what matches there were. I arrived and the U9s were playing. And there was a boy, with glasses, who couldn’t stop running and every one of his shots ended in a goal. I asked about the boy and they told me it was Pauet, who was a year younger than the rest. He wasn’t very tall, but he surprised us. After doing trials with the club, Villarreal CF decided to give him a chance and sign him for the following year.”
A factory of opportunities at the service of talent in Castellón
When it comes to finding new talent, Miguel Ángel Mesa confesses that they look for something different in the boys. “Many factors are taken into account, both sporting and non-sporting. But we look for that differential aspect. In general, we appreciate if they are an intense kid, if they have technical ability or an outstanding physique.”
In the world of recruitment, the great success stories coexist with many others, less bombastic, in which there is no American movie ending: “It’s a satisfaction to see how the kids we bring in progress, but the reality is that it’s very complicated. Giving the kids the opportunity is worth it. Giving them the option to train and develop at a club that offers you so many resources is something that has a lot of value.”
Finally, Mesa predicts a great future and good health for youth football in the province, thanks to Villarreal CF: “They are working very hard and very well. Everything the club has done would have been unthinkable 30 years ago. I am sure that there will be very good players from the province in the coming years.” With the effort and resources that the Submarine puts into the training and development of youth football, the future is guaranteed.
