Success for Leah
Teenager helps Zaragoza to opening day victory
Winning start in Spain
Livingston basketball ace Leah Stewart made a winning start to life in Spain as her Zaragoza team defeated Calasanz 86-23.
Leah saw 14 minutes of action and totalled five assists and four rebounds as well as chipping in with two points.
The 17-year-old joined Mann Filter Zaragoza’s under-18 side in August when she teamed up again with Luis Romero, her former coach with both the West Lothian Wolves and Scottish national side.
And she said she was delighted to finally get on the court in a competitive fixture after a long training camp and numerous friendlies.
She said: “Finally the time came to play a competitive game after weeks of training and preseason games and it was great to be out there. It was a really good outcome for the team and for me personally. It was great to play in such a fast-paced game where every decision counts.”
Leah is one of four Scots who made the switch to one of Spain’s top youth team academies and she believes she’s taken huge steps forwards in her game already. She said: “I’ve improved in lots of areas since moving to Zaragoza and I feel like my fitness has improved the most.
“My technical ability is certainly improving as well as I’m training every day with more experienced and better players.”
As part of the move, which is part of an educational and sports programme, she trains with the club’s academy team for more than 20 hours a week, along with studying Spanish and helping pupils at local schools with English classes.
And that, she says, has helped her settle to life in Spain both on and off the court.
Leah said: “It was hard at first move to a different country and team where they speak a different language.
“But with the help of my team, coaching, Spanish classes, primary school and my new friends, I have found it easy to settle in and understand the life here in Spain.”
Romero said that he was delighted with Leah’s progress and praised the teen’s work ethic.
He added: “As a team we are over the moon with the season opener but we also played a newly-promoted team.
“Leah felt slightly nervous at the beginning, which was to be expected, but in the second half she really showed what she is capable of.
“Her work ethic is unbelievable. She has been improving each week since she arrived in Spain.
“The strength and conditioning sessions have been hard for her and the overall workload is quite challenging but she seems to have adjusted and after some up and down displays in pre-season, she is really performing well.
“Leah’s taking a massive step in her career and we have to be patient with the results but once she reaches the point we want her to be at, she will achieve anything she wants.
“The next two games will be important for her in order to establish a solid amount of court time. I’ve no doubt she will do well and continue to improve.”