The professionalization of the sport practiced by women is becoming a priority after last year Barça was crowned in the Champions League and finished off with a historic treble and the Ballon d’Or for Alexia Putellas. So, after football, basketball will come and handball will follow, in a sequence that respects the classic hierarchy of professional sports in the dynamics of FC Barcelona. “The successes that we are seeing are a reflection of the change that is taking place in society; today the fruits of the struggles of 35 years ago are beginning to be reaped”, points out Jordi Busquets, doctor in Sociology and professor at Ramon Llull University. “Brands, more and more, want to be linked to clubs that truly believe in and are committed to values such as feminism or environmentalism; Barça is a global engine of change”, explains Raúl Ciprés, founder of Creativialab, a company specializing in sports sponsorship.
In Barcelona there are about 800 athletes spread over the 12 disciplines that the Barça entity has. To date, only football has professionalized its female side. This reality may change from the next season. In the club offices they are already preparing for the jump of the basketball team, which is confident of promotion to the professional league: the Endesa Women’s League. “We have matches pending against direct rivals, but yes, things are looking very good,” says Isaac Fernández, coach of Barça CBS (name created after the link between FC Barcelona and Club Básquet Santfeliuenc), leader of the second division, the called the Women’s Challenge League.
The current link agreement implies a disbursement of 40,000 euros by Barça, which will provide official clothing for some 200 players and offer the use of the medical services of the Sports City. On the other hand, it is Santfeliuenc who manages the section. “The 2021-2026 strategic plan contemplates that Barcelona assumes the women’s basketball section; but it is a long-term project”, they point out from the Palau Blaugrana.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations between Barcelona and Santfeliuenc, the Barça club would be willing to increase its investment in the section with the aim of placing the team among the top eight in the Endesa Women’s League. Thus, it would assume 60% of a budget that takes as a reference the investment made by Sedís Bàsquet (a club located in La Seu d’Urgell, ranked fifth after 21 games). The investment would be close to half a million euros, similar to that of the mid-table teams. However, from Barça it is ensured that “nobody knows what can be done at the budget level and more so considering that promotion is not closed”. Santfeliuenc and Barcelona will meet after the key match against Alcobendas this weekend, to continue advancing in the planning in case of promotion. Meanwhile, the Barça club will have a gesture with the team in the days before the Women’s Day celebration: this Sunday (at 6:00 p.m.) the team will play its league match at the Palau Blaugrana. A decisive match for a team that has incorporated Núria Martínez, 38 years old and one of the international figures, to replace Ainhoa López, who is out due to a long illness.
The clubs that lead the classification of the maximum category have a budget close to one million euros. For example, Uni Girona has 830,000 euros for this campaign, which represents a reduction of 20% compared to the 2019-2020 season, according to the Palco23 portal. Also joining this budget range are Perfumerías Avenida and València Basket, the latter being the one that has recently bet the most on its women’s section.
According to TV-3, Barcelona’s commitment to professionalization also includes the incorporation of the handball team next season thanks to the merger of the women’s team with Sant Joan Despí, which competes to be promoted to the highest category.
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Between professionalization and amateurism
“Obviously, moving up a category implies extra dedication from the players and the coaching staff; if we want a player to be training morning and afternoon, her salary has to be in correspondence with her dedication”, they affirm from Barça CBS. Since the arrival of Isaac Fernández on the Barça bench, the first team went on to train four days a week. However, the vast majority of players still combine studies or work with basketball. “Playing in the first division, studies can be combined, I already see a more difficult job”, affirms the Catalan coach, also a member of the staff of the women’s senior team.
The reality of the second division is very disparate. Most clubs do not have players considered home players, although there are exceptions. The most common thing is that the most important remunerations are destined to foreigners. With local players, agreements are usually closed without a contract and in some cases a formula is sought that combines a very low fixed salary and an incentive for victory. The reality of the first division is very different. The Endesa Women’s League competition rules establish that “teams must maintain a minimum of eight and a maximum of twelve players registered and contracted throughout the season.”
“For now, we only think about playing and winning; the teams that get promoted are always a little late in their planning because when they go out on the market there are already many committed players, but it doesn’t worry me”, recalls Fernández.
The situation of the other disciplines of the club is very different. Not only because of Barça’s intentions, but also because of the evolution of the different sports in the country. Athletics (which brings together some 230 athletes, of which 74 are women) is one of the most professionalized sections. Among the most prominent names are Yulimar Rojas, recently triple jump Olympic champion, and Jordan Díaz, the young promise of the same discipline. However, both receive a symbolic contribution without Barça being their main source of income. The budget for the management of the two athletics teams, male and female, is around 400,000 euros.
The realities of women’s volleyball and field hockey are very different. The case of volleyball is similar to that of basketball, since the section was also created from the link with another club: CV Barcelona, which brings together some 260 players. The team goes through a settlement process in the Iberdrola Superliga, after passing through the second division. “Playing the league final in 2019 cost us relegation and a season far from first, because the team had to readjust to the club’s economic possibilities,” says Adrián Fiorenza, technical director of CVB Barça. “Now we have a team that allows us to fight for permanence, with young girls from the house and with a lot of projection,” adds the technical director, who assures that both the team and the league are far from professionalization.
The women’s field hockey team is also in the top competition – it has a hundred chips – although it is far from the reality of the clubs that invest the most, such as Club de Campo or RC Polo. In addition to figure skating – it welcomes some 50 skaters –, whose most visible face is the Olympic couple Olivia Smart and Adrián Díaz, although they do not train in Barcelona, there are also rugby and ice hockey players – about twenty between the two sections – that when they reach a certain age they must leave the club because Barça does not have exclusively female teams. In the case of rugby, there is a parallel and unofficial team that welcomes these players and is fighting to get the jump to the Division of Honor B. Although it is true that the club does not recognize this team as its own, it has helped in certain aspects the team led by Aroa González, former player of the absolute Spanish team with four World Cup appearances behind her.
