Guillermo. Pelotari. Born in Ondarroa in 1911, his activities date back to 1923, when he was twelve years old. Those were the times of the Erdoza, "Isidoro", Navarrete, "Arnedillo", Echeverría, "Machín" and other aces who triumphed and became rich in America, which was echoed in the Basque provinces, and so, in 1923, a group of "pelotari children" was formed, made up of "Guillermo", Lorenzo Osa, Sanmartín, Onaindía, Arana, "Ulacia", "Pistón", Olascoaga, Iturrino, "Segundín", Berrondo, Solozábal, Ramos, Azurmendi, Uría, Echevarría and Urrestarazu, who were contracted to play in Madrid, paying them sixty duros a month as well as hotel expenses. The cast of novice artists was a great success and, at the end of 1923, a selection was made from the aforementioned group, which was contracted to perform in a fronton in Havana, where raquetistas were playing. They continued their success in the Pearl of the Antilles, which opened the doors to North America. In 1924, a fronton was opened in Miami, where our artists continued to triumph. This group of youngsters multiplied, reaching the number of about fifty with products from Marquina, Ondárroa, Motrico, Saturrarán and other towns, and from them came two exceptional stars: "Guillermo" and Estanislao Maiztegui, "Pistón", and first class pelotaris such as Paco Berrondo, Julián Arana, Eusebio San Martín and "Segundín". There is no unanimity in the case of "Guillermo" - as perhaps not even in the case of "Chiquito de Gallarta" - in estimating his category of phenomenon. There are many excellent cesta punta players with whom he is compared; but neither is there unanimity when it comes to singling him out as a rival. Whether this is disputed or not, "Guillermo" has been considered for many years as the first defender of his modality, in which, for some time, he has been playing in the fronton "Mexico", in the capital of the United Mexican States. Ref. Luis Bombín, 1946.
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