Nico: Basketball with Soul

Nicolás San José García was the ‘Alma Mater’ of PRODEP for more than 20 years. His lamentable pass away has left a deep emptiness in the world of the basket but, among his legacy, he leaves some ideas that are still valid in the agency that was his life. Nico, as he was known in the world of basketball, worked to provide women’s basketball with an image of seriousness and professionalism. His career was recognized in Spain and around the world as evidenced by this interview published in MUNDO DEPORTIVO that we recovered as a tribute to his figure.

What relationship did you have with the world of sports before creating PRODEP?

My life was always related to sports. First in athletics, where I became champion of Asturias, my homeland, and even runner-up of Spain of clubs, in the discipline of cross country. After this stage, I came to the world of basketball. I played many years, always in Asturian clubs, from there I became a coach, with twelve years as the head of basketball at the Sagrada Familia School in Urgell de Pola de Lena. From there I went to the Youth Club Astur, whose sponsor was the Asturian highway (Aucalsa), a team with which we reached the Women’s League and in which I played all kinds of facets, from training to becoming GM.

Why do you devote yourself to women’s basketball?

Because I was always linked to it and it was the one I knew perfectly. I had proposals to enter male basketball, and I still have them, but I believe that success is achieved by not diversifying. When I work on something, I put the soul, the heart and the life to reach the highest, so if I expand my company to another area, I would surely fail or I would not be so efficient in the development of my professional work.

What are the services you provide to your represented?

PRODEP, as an integrated services sports agency, offers strategic solutions to all of its players, with the sole purpose of satisfying their sporting career and professional desires. In our eyes, each player is unique and our relationship with her is personalized. Our credentials are and will be trust, discretion, friendship, honesty and honesty. Also, obviously, we help to find and select team, we carry out all the contractual negotiations, we give advice and legal, fiscal, psychological help, etc. and we care about the audiovisual, photographic and statistical monitoring of each of them. Likewise, we develop and look for their marketing contracts, we help to celebrate the campus, etc.

What kind of athletes do you represent? Only elite or also young people who start their career?

Our company started by representing only and exclusively elite players, but with the years and the markets demands we expanded our horizons to be able to give each club what it needs at the moment, always adequate to its budget. Given the great impact of Spanish basketball in recent years in base categories, our company echoed them and captured those of us who assumed great values with a promising future. In that search, we catch players who are no longer promising and are a reality in national and international women’s basketball, as are the cases of Tamara Abalde or Laura Nicholls, who with only 18 years were present at the last Beijing Olympic Games.

What benefits do the players have to have a good representative?

I believe that the success of our company lies in the great knowledge of the national and international market, this meant many years of work and continuous investment in the relationship with coaches, leaders and clubs, which gives the possibility to PRODEP to find the best jobs in the best leagues around the world.

Also, what services do you offer to the clubs?

PRODEP is aware of the particular needs of each club in the search for players, so we provide value-added services, such as the search of a specific player profile based on the specific parameters that they indicate, for this we have a website in which clubs and fans can enter not only to see the most relevant news in the world of basketball but also view the profile of each of our players.

What have been your successes in this time?

Our successes are those of our players, we are proud to have them in the finals of national league championships, Euroleague, FIBACup national teams in Europe, South America, World Cup and Olympics. We are also one of the few European agencies with a WNBA and FIBA license, which gives you absolute solvency when it comes to taking your players to the best leagues in the world.

What projects do you have for the future?

Continue the line and the philosophy of work that so many positive results have given us so far. We want to innovate and realize some interesting projects of training and technical and tactical improvement in specialized campuses for professional players taught by highly qualified personnel. We recently included the figure of the psychologist and now we are studying the inclusion of new professionals that help make the work and the professional performance of our players much easier.

Anything else to highlight?

Thanks to all the team of PRODEP and, of course, to our players and coaches, without you PRODEP would not be what it is today, one of the Representation Agencies with the greatest international relevance.