This is how Juan Roig builds his legacy, the tireless sports patron: basketball, marathon, Olympic scholarships and the Roig Arena

“From my mother we have learned the most important thing.

And it is that first you have to give and then receive.

When you die you take nothing with you, only what you leave behind in this world.

thus summarizes the philosophy that marks his life, the one transmitted to him by his mother,

, and which has guided his steps at

, but also in what he is passionate about: sport.

The businessman and his wife

does not like the spotlight, or the interviews, nor do they seek laurels, they only invest their personal assets year after year in leaving a legacy that makes "Valencia, the Valencian Community and Spain" great.

In 2021 alone, Juan Roig allocated 56.4 million to the four branches that will be his sports heritage:

,

, the

, with the power of the

at the forefront, and the

, the great multipurpose facility that will open in 2024, which will cost 280 million and donated to the city in 50 years.

How Juan Roig has become the great sports patron is a response to which those who watch over his concerns are successful projects.

From Los Angeles to Valencia Basket

The starting point is the

and the passion that silver medal aroused for basketball in Spain, which in 1986 would host the

.

Valencia was not the venue and had a miracle team.

He was part of

, which broke him off after relegation to the Second Division and the place had been picked up

.

But they need investors.

In his search was

, who seated Fernando and Juan Roig almost at the foot of the Fonteta parquet to see in a preparatory tournament for that World Cup the USSR of

and

facing the Spain of

with

and

.

Modern basketball was coming to the city and the Roigs understood that they had to get on that train.

He was born

to ascend to the ACB in two years, from where he only fell in 1994/95.

The first title came with the Copa del Rey in 1999, followed by four Eurocups (before ULEB), one Cup Winners' Cup and one Super Cup, until in the 2016/17 campaign, 31 years after that tournament, Valencia Basket was proclaimed League champion.

The dream of taking the team to the top had been fulfilled but, above all, the commitment to continue sustaining it.

In 2021,

.

The L'Alqueria nursery

And there was more.

Roig's investment had grown to recover the elite

that Valencia had with Dorna Godella or Ros Casares.

Valencia Basket was proclaimed champion of the Eurocup Women in 2019 and the vision was already at the base of the entire project.

«The quarry teams were growing and there was no longer enough with the two tracks and two averages that we had in a municipal school pavilion.

One day, Juan Roig and Paco Raga walked out of La Fontenta and visualized the solution to the problem right next to the pavilion.

In 16 months, they negotiated the transfer of municipal land for 50 years and

was born , which turned five in September».

explains it

, general director of Valencia Basket, which manages the branch of the legacy linked to basketball.

Family photo of the opening day of L'Alqueria del Basket.VBC

L'Alqueria arose in the entrepreneur's mind and had no mirror in Europe.

Not even in the NBA.

No one had pampered the quarry facilities so much.

15,000 square meters were designed with 13 state-of-the-art courts, nine decks, a gym, medical and study areas.

18 million that the president contributed with only two conditions: «He wanted

(the best court for children), but that it was also a basketball nursery in every way, that it supported from players to referees or coaches» , says Carbonell.

Today there are more than 500 boys and girls playing every day and there is the

the University of Valencia to investigate everything from physiology in basketball to physical preparation.

His intention was to create the Valencian school and promote the "Culture of Effort".

"That the new generations see in this sport a way to develop their values," said Roig at the presentation in 2017.

The Roig Arena, a "city-project"

Then another project took center stage that will lead him to invest 280 million: the

.

Yes, for a week with the family surname as the

after it was Casal Arena Valencia and Casal España Arena de Valencia, which raised some controversy with the institutions already overcome.

"This name is a recognition of his drive so that important things happen in Valencia, the Valencian Community and Spain," recalls

, general director of Licampa1617, the company created to develop the macroproject that appeared in the president's mind.

“It is when Valencia Basket wins the League, the dream title, when it is time to take the leap that had been considering for years from moving from a municipal pavilion such as La Fonteta to a more modern one, with more features,” says Sendra.

«But

and reflects on what Valencia lacks as a city.

The conclusion is a large covered multipurpose area, an arena».

What had begun as the design of a sports venue became "a city-project".

"It was no longer a basketball pavilion but we had to think about insulation, acoustics, restaurant areas...", recalls Sendra, who began to travel around the world to meet specialists and analyze the market.

Figuration of the Roig Arena.LICAMPA 1617

First to trace, together with

-the office of José Martí and Amparo Roig- the transformation of a part of the city.

The Roig Arena is a large covered space for entertainment with a maximum capacity of up to 15,600 spectators in basketball mode and 18,600 in concert, with rooms for events and a range of restaurants, with a careful design.

Inserting it in the neighbourhood, next to L'Alqueria and La Fonteta, meant the need to

.

«We invested 8.5 million to build the new center on a very close site with the best quality standards, which is accompanied by a 20,000 square meter park and a high-rise car park with more than 1,000 spaces.

It is, without a doubt, a project-city that will generate a

.

We want things to happen at the Roig Arena all the time, sports, business and cultural”, says Sendra.

Again, the Valencia City Council ceded municipal land where it stands for 50 years because the facility will become

, to which is added in exchange for an annual fee of 200,000 euros.

The cost of the work started with a forecast of 220 million coming out of Roig's pocket and that inflation has raised by 60 more.

"The president's premise is that the works did not stop," he recalls.

The Marathon and Olympic scholarships

Not only basketball has fallen in love with Juan Roig.

«One Sunday in November 2011, he was watching the

on television , on a splendid day, because it had been delayed a week due to the general elections called by Zapatero, and images of New York came to mind.

Valencia could do it.

The next day he asks us to find out how this is managed ».

He is remembered by

, who today is the director of the

.

Together with

began to have meetings with the organizing club, the

, "but without revealing who was behind it."

"In April, in a Valencia Basket Eurocup final that we lost to the Russian Khimki, the president communicated to the City Council through the Councilor for Sports that we want to be sponsors."

The legal instrument that would guide the incursion into the world of

would be the foundation created in honor of his mother and the definitive conquest was carried out by the president of Correcaminos,

.

«We started with the

and insisted that the president go to the exit, and not to the arrival.

He insisted a lot that if we didn't ask him, he would write him a letter.

Then we understood why: he saw the impact of popular sport, of contact with people, and he told Elena that he wanted more », says Juanmi.

A foundation still without offices in 2012 began to grow to lead the Marathon in 2014, adding several world records for Half Marathon and 10 K and bringing together 30,000 popular athletes on December 4 with a city dedicated to the race.

His wish: "That the marathon world record can be broken in Valencia."

Meanwhile, the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation has turned Valencia into the

and built the 5K circuit through the Turia Garden used by 800,000 popular runners a year.

Roig, along with Paco Borao and Cheptegei to break the 10K world record in 2019.FTA

Roig's next vision came with the London 2012 Olympic Games. «He asks us to find a way to create scholarships so that more Valencian athletes can be Olympic and Paralympic.

We had no idea, but we stood up at a conference given by

, president of the COE, in Valencia and we explained what we wanted.

I knew who Juan Roig was, but outside of Valencia no one had yet fully believed his sports patronage project », confesses Gómez.

Blanco put them in contact with Ricardo Leiva, director of Sports at the COE, and helped them create "fair and objective" bases.

arose

, which grants scholarships to 150 athletes, some of them already medalists, and coaches.

What the Foundation grants in aid to Valencian athletes is equivalent to the total of those granted by all the autonomies.

The creation of the

seal also gave way to supporting minority federations (paddle tennis, triathlon, table tennis, among others) to promote their sport in schools and programs to support semi-elite clubs at risk of disappearing due to the impact of the pandemic.

"In 2021 there were 17 million budget, 88 in the 10 years of the Foundation," recounts its director.

With the legacy of Juan Roig accelerating each year, the challenge that the president gives them is all internalized and is summed up by Víctor Sendra: «We are very lucky to have Juan Roig, that he has such a strong commitment to each project, but our obligation now is to make his legacy fully sustainable.”

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Juan Roig

• Articles Inma Lidon