The Barça champion, an example for equality: “The club bets more and more and better”

Many people wonder what is the key to the success of this great Barça, current champion of the League, Cup, Champions and Spanish Super Cup. And, despite the fact that there are many factors that lead to understand how this team has become the most feared and admired in Spain and Europe, everything points to the same origin: the club’s decisive commitment to its women’s section. There is no more secret. The culé entity opted for them like no one else. The result already shines in its showcases. But it goes further, with a team that has its own sponsors and whose players are world soccer stars.

Behind this champion team there is a section that has been professional for several years (since 2015, specifically) and that He has set the example to follow in the rest of the clubs. “The club bets more and more on us. We have the best coaches, physiotherapists, doctors and all the necessary professionals,” he says. in an interview for AS Melanie Serrano (Sevilla, 32 years old), the oldest player in this Barça team who has recently surpassed 500 games played.

From being a hobby to living by and for football

the spanish side He has been at the Barça club for 18 seasons and has lived it all, both good and bad, being part of that generation of players whose struggle got the club’s attention. “We had to swallow a lot of shit and work hard to get to the top. Just because you do a good job doesn’t mean you’re going to achieve all the successes, but success doesn’t come without work. Things have been done very well and we’ve been able to enjoy of great moments”, says Melanie, who reflects on the great contrast between her beginnings in football and the current reality: “It has gone from being a hobby and playing a pachanga to being a professional and living by and for soccer.”

From mud fields to grass fields. From labor injustices to the first agreement in 2020. “The conditions we have as players have changed a lot. Now we dedicate ourselves to it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Formerly, we had two hours a day, the games and little else”, exposes the culé winger, who has just returned from a maternity leave that, according to her account, was “unthinkable” before.

Melanie Serrano, who says that her classmates joke that she is the ‘mommy’ in the locker room, confesses that she has felt very loved by her classmates. “I have received a lot of love and closeness from them at all times. They have been part of this and I am very grateful that all my colleagues have always been by my side and that of Lara (her partner and also the mother of her two children). They have been at the foot of the canyon at all times,” he says.

The Professional League, the next step

“Steps are being taken, but much remains to be done. We need the League to be professional so that everyone has all the rights and work with peace of mind“, he adds, referring to that great step that will be taken next season, when the first professional Spanish women’s football league will start. With their arrival, the First Division players will have managed to win one of their great battles: to have the same recognition than the First Division players, neither more nor less.

“Being able to make a living from football in a professional way is something that many times I still don’t believe. It has been what we have fought for many years. I value a lot of things that maybe the young players today don’t appreciate and, honestly, it has been incredible to see how we were breaking down barriers. And what we have left”, warns Melanie, who looks to the future with the hope that equality is getting closer.

The growth of women’s Barça in six keys

Recognition: Despite the fact that it cost a lot for the club to want to integrate the women’s team into its structure (2002), the culé entity has always recognized the sacrifice and struggle of the pioneers who made the birth of Barça possible.

Professionals: After being the first team that began to offer an employment contract to its players and pay for them in 2015, the club fully integrated the women’s contract into the club’s professional structure.

training: Barça went in 2015 from training for two hours in the late afternoon to having one day in the morning, in addition to having monitored training sessions and more means and resources for their preparation.

Transfers: In 2017, Barça made the first signing for a Spanish club after paying Rosengard between 30,000 and 45,000 euros for Lieke Martens, who won The Best that year. He also starred in the first transfer in history between Spanish clubs by paying Atlético 50,000 euros for Mapi León.

Stadium: The Barça women’s team plays all its matches in the new Johan Cruyff stadium, with great facilities and a natural grass pitch. It is one of the teams that presents the most assistance in its matches.

the farmhouse: The residence for players from the lower categories of Barça opened its doors in 2021. In 2015, Patri Guijarro was the first female footballer to complete her Bachelor’s degree at La Masía.