The little neighbour is knocking: Andorra learning to tough it out with the big boys

ANDORRA LA VELLA (FIBA European Championship for Small Countries 2018) – Basketball fever is sweeping across the Principality of Andorra, with the land-locked Pyrenean nation falling increasingly in love with the game, owing to their recent success on the court.

Tucked in between two European giants – Spain and France – the Andorran people have developed a distinct and commonly-recognizable basketball brand of their own. The country's top club MoraBanc Andorra have made a name for themselves as gutsy overachievers in the Spanish ACB, while brothers Quino and Guille Colom have come to be known as ambassadors and the main flag-bearers of the sport on an individual level, but much in the same mold.

With the elder of the two siblings, Quino, opting to represent Spain on the international stage, the responsibility of leading the Andorran national team into battle as the number one threat rests on his younger brother's shoulders.

"Playing for Andorra means everything to me," the 26-year-old combo guard told FIBA.basketball, with the clock counting down the final days before the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries 2018, set to take place in San Marino at the end of June.

"It's always a pleasure to represent my country. I'm proud of where I'm from and I always try to put Andorra on the map. I want to show people that, while we are small, we play hard and without any fear."

If there is anyone who knows just how hard Andorra play, it is the other small nations of Europe, who have seen them dominate the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries in recent years. Having reached the Final in the last four editions of the event and won twice, the principality of less than 80,000 have grown into a miniature powerhouse.

"We always have the same goal of trying to go for the gold medals. It's the expectation you need to have if you want to do something big. Personally, I will try to do my best to make it happen this year too," promised Colom, who took home All-Star Five honors from the bi-annual tournament, held in Moldova two years ago.

"We will have some important absences this year, which will make the goal more difficult to accomplish. Some of the young guys and I will have to step up, but I think we're ready for it."

Guille Colom was named to the All-Star Five at the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries 2016

After being merely a role player on the 2010 and 2012 teams, the guard was a break-out star of the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries 2014 in Gibraltar, averaging 14.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He further increased his production in 2016, but saw Andorra cede the throne to the on-the-rise Armenia, who have since successfully competed in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers and the FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers.

"The most memorable moments with the national team for me are the gold medal in 2014 and the silver one in 2016, because I started to be an important player for the national team and it made me feel more responsible for our results. Those were big tournaments both for me and the team," the MoraBanc Andorra player offered.

Colom started his path to professional basketball in the lower divisions of Spanish basketball, having moved to Zaragoza to study marketing at the age of 18. A self-made man, he gradually ascended to the top flight after starting out all the way down in the sixth tier.

"There's no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs," Colom shrugs. "My path is not typical for someone from Andorra. My brother and I are the only ones playing professional basketball and we worked a lot for it. I think with my example people in Andorra can see that everything is possible to accomplish if you work hard and have confidence in yourself."

His older brother Quino no longer plays for Andorra. After representing his country of birth at the U16 level, he switched allegiances to Spain at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2006, making him ineligible for the Andorran national team.

"We always told each other it would be great to play together. I think we would be a great backcourt duo and we would have a lot of fun for sure, but this is impossible now. So we just follow each other and support the national team, whenever the other one plays," said Guille, speaking of his brother, who has shone in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers.

"I think Spain are doing a really good job in the World Cup Qualifiers and he is an important piece of the success. He is showing what he is capable of doing and leading the way for the team. I'm very proud of him."

While they are not likely to ever face off for their respective national teams, Guille and Quino did get a unique opportunity to share the court, when Unics Kazan and MoraBanc Andorra played each other in the EuroCup this past season.

Quino Colom has been an important member of the Spanish national team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers

"It was really special for us, because we hadn't played against each other before. We were lucky that Kazan and Andorra were drawn in the same group and the two games we played this year will be always a part of the family history," he smiled.

However, testing the waters at FIBA EuroBasket or the World Cup Qualifiers with the Andorran national team is something that Colom would also love to do one day. As he puts it, though, it would be a tough task to undertake for a country the size of Andorra.

"It would be a dream come true, but realistically we don't have the manpower of countries like Armenia. We are a really small country, but with a good basketball culture. With MoraBanc Andorra in the first Spanish division, more kids are playing and falling in love with this game, so you never know," he said, thinking aloud. "Maybe in the future, we can try bigger things."

While top-level basketball aspirations remain a dream for the national team, they are very much a reality at the club level with MoraBanc Andorra for Colom, who joined the ranks of the team at the start of the 2016-17 campaign.

"I'm the only player on the team from Andorra and I do feel like I'm representing my country. Playing at home, all the people in the crowd are proud to have an Andorran player there. We are a small and the country is like a family, so it's like I represent all the people when I go out there and play. It's different from the national team in terms of my importance and responsibility in the team, but not in the feeling. Playing for the team I was born with, at the highest level, it's something special," Colom explained.

The success of the club and the national team go hand in hand when it comes to the growing popularity of basketball in the country, but consecutive ACB Play-Off appearances have really raised the profile of the sport in the last couple of years.

"The team is growing and improving every year, and the support of the people is the key to making it happen. The popularity of the sport in the country is higher than ever before and people are hyped about the team, so it's great for the unity of Andorra, as people in the country have a common passion," the player said.

With another big season for MoraBanc Andorra in the books, national star Colom is hoping that the increasing number of basketball fans will now rally behind the national team to keep the sport's forward momentum with a strong performance in San Marino at the end of June.

FIBA