“What is happening in San Luis is a true revolution for women’s soccer, at least in the province. The growth has been impressive, unthinkable because of its rapidity. In the results and in everything, really. A true project that laid the foundations for something different. Something to replicate and sustain”.
Melina Salinas He is local and knows what he is talking about. She was born in Tilisarao, 19 years ago, she has been in the project since the beginning, after beginnings in Sarmiento and Juventud Unida. Precisely, Juventud and Estudiantes, the San Luis clubs that are in the men’s Federal A, were not dedicated to promoting women’s soccer and that role was taken by the Sports Secretariat, creating a new institution to pursue a superior project.
“This arose with the intention of promoting the development of women’s football in the province, taking advantage of the fact that there are many girls who play, but they did not have the necessary support from the clubs. At the end of 2018, work began on the project and in 2019, with the creation of the first Provincial Cup female, the idea was to merge the two teams that reached the final and create a club that represents us at the national level, to achieve a contagion effect and have teams that want to compete professionally. With this initiative we managed to get many girls to sign up for San Luis FC and since there was no more space in the institution, they decided to start in other clubs. Today there are more institutions that are committed to developing women’s football and in the third edition of the Provincial Cup, starting in March, there will be 64 teams,” he explains. Cintia Ramirezthe Secretary of Sports who was a chess player as a girl and took this position in April 2018.
Casteglione He received his DT degree in 2015 and in 2019 he directed Ituzaingó in the B Metro. But after the pandemic he decided to settle in San Luis and there he received a call from Agustín Alessio, Head of the Sports Development program, whom he knew from his time as a player in the province, and offered him to be the head of the project.
“I immediately said yes because I know how seriously they work and how they achieve what they set out to do. We began to brainstorm everything and met with the Puntana girls who were playing in Buenos Aires to see which ones we could repatriate. “We managed to get several of them to return and we put together a very competitive team”remembers this former player with a long career in First Division and the Argentine promotion.
“It is my first experience leading a team of girls and everything has been very nice, from directing them to understanding and helping them, giving them tools to improve. They have very strong stories, that they have been very discriminated against for wanting to play football, to fulfill their dream, and here we have managed to contain and value them.“Above all, shorten the gap between men’s and women’s soccer, which is still large, but much smaller, at least here,” she comments while specifying that 15 of the 28 players are from Puntanas and seven ended up starting against Sarmiento.
The arguments that support what the coach says begin with the structure and logistics behind the main team. “We have two PFs, a field assistant, three props, goalkeeping coach, video analyst, doctor, kinesiologist, nutritionist, coordinator, sports psychologist and press officer. There are many professionals around them, we train in the best stadiums in the province, we have a high-performance gym, there is concentration before the matches, clothing to match, everything for a balanced diet, we add GPS to be able to control and adjust the loads in training, we have live video analysis, both in practices and in matches.… All this is not normal in a women’s team, that is why I say that it is the main project of the country. We can take care of the girls very well, keep them contained,” she details.
The results came from the first day, that 6-1 to Berazategui in the C, in April of last year, always playing in the stadium Juan Gilberto Funes. In B, the base was maintained and 12 new players arrived, including three foreigners, like the Mexican goalkeeper. Mariana Zarragathe Paraguayan winger Maribel Portillo (former Olimpia) and the Uruguayan central midfielder Nikol Laurnaga (former Nacional), which scored the promotion goal last weekend.
“We were looking for some professional players who would adapt quickly. Luckily we were able to maintain humility, focus and ambition”adds the coach, who last year sought to put together an intense and fast team, because he saw that they could make differences in that, as happened. “From the first day I noticed ambition, we knew it would be a much tougher tournament, with important teams, with years in the category, but we were able to do very well, losing a single game,” he concludes.
The girls couldn’t be happier. “I describe this project as something with a lot of vision, commitment and work. I was shocked that there is so much commitment to women’s football here.. It makes me feel very comfortable being in a place like this. It is a dream to live doing what we like, playing ball. “We are all very happy and grateful,” says Agostina Gulino, the 21-year-old left back from Mendoza.
“The big difference with other teams is that they invest and trust in the work, others do not… From top to bottom there is a clear idea and objectives”addition Daiana Alaniz, the team captain. “I knew little about Argentine football, but I liked the project they told me about, I decided to take on the challenge and when I arrived I was surprised: by the mentality of the club, by the way of working, the professionalism within the structure and by the high level of football. in the country. It was surprising for me to see that we had more support than several A clubs and how they took each step to achieve the goal,” says Mexican Zarraga, the team’s goalkeeper.
The most important thing is that the project goes beyond the first team. “It is not easy to start with a club from scratch. But, luckily, in just over two years we have managed to put together all the training divisions, being able to compete in the local league, reserve, Under 15 and school. We have improved the number of girls, making many of them encouraged to play“, specifies Casteglione.
Ramírez tells what the deepest objective is. “Avoid uprooting the girls, so that they do not have to go so far to become professionals and that they have an institution here that accompanies and supports them. Today there are several Puntanas playing in Buenos Aires and even abroad, because at the time there was no club that contained them. Now it is the other way around, some are returning and in the future there will be more. In addition, the project seeks to encourage many more clubs to want to follow this path. The mission of the project is for all the lower categories to participate in AFA and at the same time infect more clubs to develop women’s football,” he highlights.
The future? Despite the change of strength in the government, the project will continue, says Casteglione, who will continue to lead as DT. “I’m going to stay and direct in First Division. The project will continue, the club will continue, even if there is a change of government because this is not an achievement of a political party but of San Luis football. Puntanos and Puntanas have to be proud of what these girls have achieved. “They made real history”, Explain. The path is laid out, you just have to follow it.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
