There are more and more. The incipient arrival of women to the soccer benches is becoming a little more visible every day. This same season the Primera Iberdrola has achieved a female presence record with up to four trainers at the controls of teams in the highest category: Iraia Iturregi (Athletic Club), Natalia Arroyo (Real Sociedad), Jenny Benítez (Sporting Huelva) and María Pry (Real Betis). Before, the maximum number of women in the women's league had been three. The last time it happened it was part of that brief list Irene FerrerasToday without a team, who was, first, in front of Rayo Vallecano and, later, of Valencia. “We are managing to break down barriers and be seen on the benches, the players are already considering the fact of being able to dedicate themselves to it, “says the coach from Madrid in Tour Universo Mujer.
In this installment of program number 3, offered in Teledeporte, Ferreras reviews the beginnings of his career on the bench, which began earlier than expected: “For an injury -backwards- that arrives early and withdraws me from the playing fields I decided to focus on that, I had already been training in formative football for several years. “After his retirement, he sat for the first time in front of a senior team -” the average age was higher than mine and that in itself generates a lot of respect ” – and the following summer, he says, he becomes a national category, while at the same time he continues to train.
In the classes of the training courses the reality was still overwhelming. “In the three levels I was always the only woman and in the Master of Physical Preparation of the RFEF I remember that I did the eighth edition and they told me that I was the first woman, “says the Madrid exporter who also talks about how this integration is in a historically masculine environment: “You enter a class in a field such as football and you hear a murmur, you generate a certain expectation …”.
However, Irene Ferreras, who retired at just 26 years old, chose to pursue a career on the bench when there had already been pioneers in Spanish women's football: Milagros Martinez (who later became the first female coach of a men's team in Japan), Laura Torvisco… Even when she arrived at Rayo B, María Pry was already a benchmark at Betis. Now she, along with Arroyo, Iturregi, Benítez or Pry herself, It has also become an example of the visibility of the female coach. “I try to encourage them to dare, to fight for what they like … The players are already considering the fact of being able to dedicate themselves to it and that is perceived,” explains Ferreras.
The Madrid coach also encourages the arrival of women to the benches of men's teams, as Milagros Martínez has done in Japan. In fact, his interview partner, Cristina Cabeza, coach of Liberbank Gijón and Spanish coach 'Promesas', she points out: “When I decide to be a coach, I decide to be a handball coach, it is not women's handball.”
A 'premature' jump to First
In this same talk, Irene Ferreras, who came to coach Rayo's first women's team at the age of 29 (2018-19), acknowledges that her jump to the top category came very soon. “I have seen myself in many difficulties, I think that the jump to First division comes to me at a time that I probably would not have chosen. Not only because of my age, but because I am a very demanding person with myself and I would have liked to be more prepared. But things come when they come and it turned out well. That opened the door to Valencia for me. “In the team that ended up being dismissed, in February 2020, after a negative dynamic of results. Now she awaits new opportunities. Perhaps in the near future she could be the fifth woman in charge of a team of First Iberdrola …