Berta Bonastre and Carlota Petchame, cousins ​​and international: “We live hockey from the cradle”

On the road to the Olympic Games, athletes are not alone. Children, friends, coaches, cousins, couples … Doctor, psychologist, nutritionist, physio … THE WORLD begins this Friday, with Bonastre and Petcham, two grass hockey players , a series to meet the protagonists and their environment.

We live grass hockey from the cradle, point in the middle of the conversation Berta Bonastre, player of the Spanish team, and her father, Llus Miquel, noting that the statement sounds repeated, a phrase made more, emphasizes: Hey, hey, literally. Literally? H.H. Every time someone is born in the family, I buy a small stick, like a folding umbrella, and put it in the crib. I have 11 photos, explains the parent and, in effect, opens the mobile galley and there are 11 identical images. His three daughters, Olga, Silvia and Berta, her four nieces, Claudia, Carlota, Clara Y Ana, and his four grandchildren, Paula, Bruna, Jana Y Pep, along with their first sticks hours after birth, a baptism that will mark them for life.

It is the story of the Bonastre saga, one more in Terrassa, where the Amat, the Escud or the Freixa came from. From the day that Llus Miquel, there in the 50s, decided to sign up for hockey at the city's Escolapios until this summer's Tokyo Games, where his little daughter Berta and her niece Carlota Petcham will opt for a medal.

In between, many family parties after eating at the grandparents' house, dozens of League and Cup titles raised by one or two of the seven cousins ​​and some milestones that go further. For example, when the wife of Llus Miquel and mother of Olga, Silvia and Berta, Mara Dolores Peremateu, founded with several partners the first female team of the historic Atltic Terrassa. For example, when between 2000 and 2002 the Terrassa CD chains three Leagues in a row with coach Llus Miquel and his older daughters, Olga and Silvia, as players. For example, when one of them, Silvia, participated with the selection in the 2004 Athens and Pekn 2008 Games and the whole family traveled to cheer her up.

It may be surprising that there are several internationals in the same family, but it is somewhat logical. When I was little I was on the field all day, I never let go of the stick, I watched my cousins ​​Olga and Silvia play, and in the end, by inertia, I learned faster than my teammates who only played hockey for three hours at the week, says Carlota Petcham in the facilities of the Egara club and, immediately afterwards, reviews a few stories that prove the feeling with which the family lives the sport. In the last Pre-Olympic, without going any further, just when the initial beep sounded, Llus Miquel and his sister, Montse, Claudia's mother, Carlota, Clara and Ana, left for the country bar and placed themselves behind a column to avoid see nothing. Only one exception was granted: if a goal was announced, they would appear, if not, nothing at all.

“We have eaten a lot of shit”

Formed both between CD Terrassa and Atltic Terrassa, Berta Bonastre and Carlota Petcham, 27 and 29 years old, came to the selection very young in full adversity. For the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Games, Spain failed to get the Olympic qualification for the London 2012 Games and the disappointment forced a thorough renovation. The Federation hired the British in 2013 Adrian Lock and this revolutionized everything, instead of leading a team, leading a team. Now, for example, the players concentrate with Spain every week, in Barcelona or Madrid, from Sunday to Wednesday, and only dedicate the remaining three days to their club, which forces some, such as Bonastre and Petcham to return from abroad – in both cases of Blgica – to secure a place in the call for the Games.

The arrival of Adrian brought a great change regarding my generation, says Silvia Bonastre, former Olympian. We played to defend ourselves, we did what we could. Now they are physically very, very above and have everything very clear. It's nice to see them play, add and, with the compliments, unleashes the confessions of the two current internationals, their sister Berta and her cousin Carlota, about the hardness of the process until they get here.

In the first years with Lock, they confess, they cried of fatigue during a concentration in Germany and considered leaving. If the recent successes had not arrived, the bronze in the 2018 World Cup – the first Spanish medal in this tournament – and the bronze in the 2019 European, perhaps they had already done so. We have spent years hard, we have eaten a lot of shit, we have been away from home for a long time, but we always had the advantage of having each other. With the family nearby everything is easier, ends Carlota Petcham and, like the rest, before leaving, the first thing he picks up is his stick. The symbol of family tradition, which accompanies them from the cradle. Literally.