The Future

"Spain's Sporting Cinderellas"

Despite chronic underfunding and a lack of support for women's sport in Spain, Spanish female athletes have recently found more international success than their male counterparts. In the London Olympics, women made up 45.6% of Spain's athletes yet accounted for 11 of the country's 17 medals. This is quite a significant change from the not too distant past such as the 1984 Los Angeles games where women made up just 23% of the Spanish team. Yet despite these admirable accomplishments, the women of Spain's 2012 Olympic team received very little media attention. When they did receive coverage, the women were simply referred to as "girls." Even worse, the current economic crisis threatens to halt or even reverse the recent progress of Spanish women in sport. Spending defecits have forced the government to make cuts in the arts and sport. However, these cuts are not distributed equally across the board; the majority of the funding was withdrawn from women's sport. While some women may be discouraged with the current situation, it is important to remember just how far they have come and to celebrate the accomplishments of the role models that have come before them while maintaining an ever-looking eye to the future and to a world of sporting equality.

While change has been slow and hard to come by, it has come. Spanish women are proving their worth on a worldwide stage and exercising their small periods of notoriety to help in their cause. It is certain that the current economic crisis poses a serious threat in that it may drive even lower, the dismal amount of funding for women's sport, causing voids in development and a scarcity of role models for other young female athletes. Yet it feels as though today's "sporting cinderellas" are to determined to allow this cause to regress. In a world where everyone is connected with the touch of a fingertip, it has become increasingly hard for society to ignore these women's calls. These calls for rightfully deserved attention and support lie behind a deep-standing love for their respective games. Women will find the results they are seeking because societal pressures and sexism can not stomp out undeterred passion.

(6)

Marca Espana: Women on Top in Sport

 

 

Marca Espana, one of the national Sports newspapers in Spain, wrote an article about the "2014 Dream Year for women in Sports." The article went on to list the many accomplishments that female Spanish athletes achieved in just 12 months. The article went on to mention how it was the year that women carried and waved the Spanish flag in the sporting world, rather than men. This important year for women was a follow-up from the 2012 London Olympics where the women started to become more prominent and successful than the Spanish men. This record winning year goes to show that Spanish women are making a name for themselves all over the world and finally, most importantly in Spain! Following is an inconclusive list of medals won in various sports by female Spanish athletes in the year 2014:

Team Silver at World Basketball Championships

Gold at the Water Polo European Championships

Mireia Belmonte sweeps European Championships winning 6 medals

Ruth Beitia wins bronze @ the World Indoor Championships and gold @ the European Indoor Championships for high jumping

Carolina Marin wins the gold at the Badminton World Championships

Marina Albalau wins the silver medal at the World Champs for sailing

Women's Soccer Team qualifies for World Championships for the first time

The Rhythmic Gymnastics Team consistently appears on the podium

Numerous female golfers had victories at the unofficial golfing worlds tournament

Marca Espana summarized the 2014 Dream year as, "A very feminine year as far as Spanish Sport is concerned." This article not only shows the dominance of Spanish women athletes on the world floor, but also examines how they are far exceeding male athletes on this stage. It is also a huge accomplishment that women are finally receiving media coverage of their success in a national Spanish newspaper!

(18)

Spanish Women Athletes Slam Handball Bikini Rules

 

In July 2014, the Spanish women's handball team erupted in outrage over European handball rules that force women to wear tiny bikini's in order to partake in the sport. Under the European Handball Federation's regulations, women must wear bikini tops and bottoms no wide than four inches in order "to leave their stomachs exposed." Players who do not follow this restriction will be subject to fines and penalties. All the while, men are allowed to wear long, loose clothing. These regulations are the epitome of sexism, as the skimpy outfits serve no physical benefit but are merely used to lure more people to watch a game that exploits women's bodies. Spain's Basque Handball Association filed an official complaint to the European Commission to have the rules adjusted. Early rulings have been promising for the female handball players as Spain's sports council found the regulations to be sexist and held that national matches would allow players to choose their outfit. Yet, the debate and battle for equality continues.

(15)

Spain's Female Athletes take Action following Early World Cup Exit

The 2015 Women's World Cup is just behind us. Yet for Spain, their run at the cup has been long over, for several weeks, seeing as they again failed to make any bit of run towards the title. Despite 27 years of mediocrity, including never qualifying for an Olympics and qualifying for the Women's World Cup just once, the team's head coach Ignacio Querda remains comfortably employed. It is very peculiar that a country that lives and dies by its football, can allow for this kind of embarrassment on the worldwide stage. Yet this is still Spain, the talent and football culture are there; so what is missing? The Women's National Team lacks two things, a competent and devoted coach and the necessary funding to make it to the next level. Despite playing great games of strategic and tactical football, the team simply could not finish. The frustration has become unbearable and finally, the players are beginning to speak out. In a letter released to the public, the team as a whole condemned there long-time coach, calling for his firing due to his lack of commitment and preparation. They elaborated that he consistently failed to schedule friendlies or other drills to keep the team from getting rusty while awaiting the tournament. Still it remains to be seen if a new coach could even help the situation due to the miniscule funding of women's soccer by the RFEF, the governing body of soccer in Spain. Finally, the team concluded their letter with optimism for the future stating:

"This is a great moment for our sport, with many challenges and dreams ahead and it is everyone’s responsibility to lead the way forward. To see where we’re going and how we get there."

(8, 9, 14) 



 

 Hopeful Prospects Continued

With improvements and advancements like the 2009 FEMP initiative and 2015 media promo video happening in recent years, the future for women in sport in Spain is looking very hopeful. With these projects, changes are occurring as we speak as well as the development of new projects to encourage participation more. In addition to these large-scale movements, we can also see the changing mindset of the local people in the interviews we conducted. The women we interviewed were involved in small scale sport or hobbies, but they also acknowledge that the notion of women participating in sports today is becoming more accepted and common in Spain. With creative initiatives, the influence of the media, and the more liberal mindset of the people of Spain, it seems that the outlook for Spanish women in sport is already looking extremely optimistic! Spain has made many progressive changes towards gender equity and representation in recent years, but there is room for improvement and it appears they are heading in the right direction!