The Barça footballer supports the ‘Bimbo 3 of 11 Super Cup’, a competition that aims to promote women’s grassroots football and fight against the abandonment of the sport
BARCELONA, 6 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Barça Femení player Aitana Bonmatí will be the visible face of the women’s grassroots soccer tournament ‘Supercopa Bimbo 3 de 11’, with which the Bimbo company -– sponsor of the Blaugrana team — aims to combat the abandonment of sport at children’s age and support even more so to women’s grassroots football, with a tournament that will be played at the Estadi Johan Cruyff at the end of June.
The ‘3 out of 11’ movement gets its name from the fact that only 3 out of 11 girls choose to continue in the world of sport, and the rest leave before they can even think about devoting themselves to it. And Aitana, at the tournament presentation event at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper of FC Barcelona, acknowledged that she herself was close to leaving football. Something that would have prevented her from becoming the best player in the world.
“At Barça the beginnings were not easy either. At the time I considered leaving football, then I did not see a future to dedicate myself to. But today I can say that that suffering and those bad days were worth it seeing everything we are achieving now “I feel proud to have followed the path. And we will continue fighting to leave a better future,” said Aitana Bonmatí.
The ‘Supercopa Bimbo 3 of 11’ will be played at the end of June at the Joan Gamper CE of FC Barcelona, specifically at the Estadi Johan Cruyff where Barça Femení usually plays. Grassroots women’s teams from the 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain can sign up for the tournament until June 21 and a jury will decide who participates in the tournament, which aims to help more girls want to continue betting on soccer and the sport.
One of these girls is Aitana Martínez, a CE Europa player, who came out first to the press conference, alone. “I’m Aitana, not the one you expected, I’m one of the ‘3 out of 11’. Many young girls have to leave football, but I don’t want to give up, I want to continue and I want to succeed but the reality is that very few achieve it. We need Trust in us, in the young people. Better, more equal football with options is possible. We need you to support us and accompany us in our growth,” he said.
Shortly after, Aitana Bonmatí entered the scene to provide light. “I could not have been sitting here today, like many classmates I had in my training or this young Aitana that I have next to me. At 16 years old, 70 percent of girls abandon the sport that has given me so much joy. I invested hours going to and from training, I did my homework on the bus and came home at night without showering. It was a very hard stage, a sacrifice for me and my parents,” he acknowledged.
“So I had no references, there was no clear future in women’s football and I didn’t know if I could make a living from the sport. I could have given up, can you imagine what I would have missed? We have to do something, an investment for the grassroots women’s football. That’s why I’m excited to join the Bimbo Super Cup and be a reference and spokesperson for the ‘3 of 11’ movement. We deserve better football and a better world, the good thing is that changing it is in our hands,” she said.
And Aitana Bonmatí’s path was not easy but the Ballon d’Or gives courage to today’s girls to continue fighting for their dreams. “Like all paths in life, mine has not been easy. I started playing with boys, I was the only girl on my teams. My beginnings were not easy, but I never blame the boys. It is a deeper problem, of society. Here in Barcelona we are now experiencing very beautiful things, society is changing,” he added, positively.
“Right now these girls are privileged because they have references in front of them. Now they have that reference, they have a Barça that is winning everything nearby. What better way to believe in being able to be a professional player? Before it was impossible. If I were little Again, I would be very excited to play in the Barça first team and live those moments. As a child, I couldn’t imagine playing in a big, full stadium, miles from home. My parents and four other fans came to see me. Things have changed, it is a privilege to experience it and for the little ones it is another incentive to be professional,” she reiterated.
Of course, she clarified that it is not easy to reach the elite of women’s professional football. “I encourage the girls to be professionals, but not to have to be an Aitana. A middle ground is also good. I don’t put anything into their heads because it is very difficult to get here, you have to make many sacrifices and few can But there are options to become professional and we are an example of that,” he said.
And he celebrated that there have been girls in the Blaugrana Masia, for some time now, and not just boys. “If at Barça the players are trained at a very young age, they will arrive at the first team with the idea that I arrived with, with concepts well defined by the coaches. If you soak up this at a very young age, when you arrive at the first team it is easier. For a club like Barça to bet heavily on grassroots football, it gives a positive message to the world, of betting on women’s football and for girls as children to have the same path as boys in La Masia,” he celebrated.
2024-06-06 11:28:59
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