Being a gypsy woman and playing football is not a combination that happens very often, but at CF Tramontana de La Mina they fight against stereotypes, machismo and racism through this sport. It’s Monday and it’s around eight in the afternoon at the ZEM La Mina. The field is full of children finishing their training and through the hallways of the locker room the players of the club’s first women’s team make their way through backpacks and baby strollers. Many of these children have spent the entire afternoon at the venue, kicking a ball and passing the time. “They are better here than on the street,” they tell us. Tramontana is more than a club, it is like a family in which everyone takes care of everyone.
More than two decades ago, Toni Porto, one of the most respected gypsies in the neighborhood, founded the club thinking about offering children a healthy and safe environment in which to spend their afternoons. Since September, the doors have also been open to Roma women and girls. Porto watched them play with each other every afternoon, but only as a hobby. Him until he convinced them to form a team. At first there were only 7-8 girls but “word spread” and today there are about 15. The youngest is 15 years old and the oldest is 38. They are all from the neighborhood and the majority are gypsies. They are the first federated gypsy women’s team in all of Spain.
A combination that is not easy. “Gypsy women always encounter more barriers in all areas of life, it is called anti-gypsyism and sexism, which intersect,” explains María José Jiménez, president of the Association of Gypsy Feminists for Diversity. For this reason, “initiatives like that of CF Tramontana represent a crack in the racist and patriarchal system of sports practice. Being able to enjoy the freedom of practicing the sport you like and encouraging any other woman, gypsy or not, to do the same.”
His great work has earned him recognition in the form of an award from the Catalan Federation this week for using “football as an engine for the transformation of a neighborhood.” But it hasn’t been easy, Porto acknowledges that there were many obstacles along the way: “There were many people who didn’t see it, including the entire club board. But I told them that they had to try. I wanted them to be normal, ordinary girls, that not because they were gypsies would take away that little thing of wanting to play football and there they are.”
Fortunately, the majority of families did not have problems for their daughters to join the club, although they recognize that they did not experience it normally either: “My parents did not see it as normal, because no one had done it before. For our father it was a surprise, but he did not put any impediment,” explains Emilia Moreno ‘Emi’, 17 years old. Although she recognizes that “each house is a world, and even more so among gypsies, there are more prejudices and more stigmas.”
“You have to have a life that allows you to have free time, not having to go to the market, take care of the children or grandparents… these things that the clownish teenage athletes do not do,” explains Jiménez, who points out that it is not a struggle. only against machismo: “It is not a question of gypsy women not being allowed to play sports, it is a question of social class.” And Toni Porto recognizes that economic obstacles are “the biggest impediment of all.” He confesses that the women’s team is financed out of his own pocket: “It is a lot of expense, each player token costs us 130 euros and to that we must add the travel, the arbitrations…”. That’s why he hopes that all the media impact they are having will help them find a sponsor.
Racism is another of the stigmas that the players of this club must fight against. “At first there was a lot of criticism. There came a time for the girls when they didn’t even want to appear in the newspapers. They told them to be careful in the locker rooms because they could lose all their bags… things like that,” explains the team’s founder. ‘Emi’ acknowledges having experienced some complicated situations, but downplays it: “In some games we have noticed as if they were looking over your shoulder. I believe, and I want to think that it is not because I am a gypsy, but because they are a rival.”
Alejandra and Claudia Martín are 19 years old and play for CF Tramontana, although they are not gypsies. They explain that they integrated very well into the team: “They treat us very well. Just because we are of a different race, we are neither better nor worse, you know? We are all women, companions, and in the field you can see this complicity.” And at home no one said anything to them either when they signed up: “They have always supported us. “Football is football and it doesn’t matter where the team is from or who we share the field with.”
For Alejandra, soccer “is a hobby,” but she recognizes that if soccer were not in her life “she wouldn’t know much what to do either.” “Every time I think I have a game or a training session, adrenaline rushes through my body, I love it.” “They come here and escape from everything. It’s like a family for them, it’s not just coming to train, there is a lot of complicity between them, it’s nice,” explains Eli Narvalaz. She is 38 years old and has two daughters, and she is the oldest on the team. She started as a coach and now she is also a player. For her, who has been playing since she was 17, the most important thing is the freedom that girls have to be themselves: “Here they don’t feel watched, they are free to be whatever they want. Nobody singles them out, they know they come here and nobody is going to condition them.”
Women like Eli, ‘Emi’, Alejandra or Claudia are changing the future. For next year, two girls’ teams are already being set up. “We have realized that we have broken many stigmas,” says ‘Emi’, who wants to be a mirror in which the next generations can reflect themselves: “If tomorrow I have a daughter, I don’t want her to feel special, as we We feel that they come to interview us as if we were weirdos for being gypsies and playing soccer. I would like it to be something more normal.” A dream that is closer today thanks to CF Tramontana.
