Las Peladas
The birth of Freestyle

During my several games in Barcelona, I've played with the cats from Streetballstyle.com, some of them are promoting streetball & freestyle through the whole country, I've been lucky to meet these guys from Las Peladas, the first Freestyling Troop in Spain. Joan, the local activist is now explaining to Asphalt Chronicles why did they launch such a crew ! This interview will be published in REVERSE magazine # 7 (France) - Check out the kiosks !

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A.C : Peladas...what does it mean ?

Joan : Peladas, that’s a cool history. Luis a.k.a Ninjalmibar, one of our freestylers, came with this word to the group. He told us that when he was doing the military service, a General called him “Pelada”, and Luis was amazed by this word and he adapted it in his own vocabulary. So he was always telling “pelada”. Later, some brazilian guy, told Toni Wan, that “peladas” in Brazil means “street-player” referring in a major way to soccer players of the street. That was definitely wich made us decide to put this name to the group.

A.C : The members ?
Joan : Luis, a.k.a Ninjalmibar, Toni Wan Kenobi, Ruben a.k.a Filipy and Joan.

A.C : How did you come to Freestyle ?

Joan : It was in 2003, when A.C.B (first league in Spain) want us to make a show in the half-times, so we reunited some freestylers of Catalonia and we prepared a show, that’s the beginning of Peladas.

A.C : Freestyle in Spain ? Who're the activists in this domain ?

Joan : In Spain? Now it’s growing a little bit, but we are the first ones, I mean, we are the pioneers in Spain.

A.C : How many shows did you realize ? Any great experience ?

Joan : It depends, during the year we can get a lot of shows, but in summer things are mad, a lot of basketball and a lot of shows. We have a lot of great experiences, doing the show in Sevilla’s Copa del Rey, working in NBA MADNESS Europe Tour 2005, doing trips all the way of Spain.

A.C :Do you have a source of inspiration for freestyling ? A Mentor ?

Joan : Well, we try to innovate, we don’t want to copy anybody, but there are always influences like Globetrotters, Seth Franco, Bobbito Garcia, Notic guys etc…

AC :What're your plans for 2007 ?

Joan : We will try to improve our shows, do better freestyles, and get more shows. Also we will be in the StreetballStyle Mixtape coming soon….

Muchas Gracias to Joan,Tony, Ruben & Filipy...
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