An elegant touch on the instep to return a lost ball to some children reveals the status of Bo Diop, a 45-year-old Senegalese player, as a former footballer. He confirms it himself: he played in the first division of his country until a cruciate ligament injury, every athlete’s nightmare, interrupted his career. It was 2012 and he packed his bags and moved, first to France and then to Madrid. Here he came into contact with Dragones de Lavapiés, a team that defends the mix of cultures in this Madrid neighborhood as a sign of identity, where 40% of residents are foreigners.
While waiting for the end of training at a municipal field in the neighborhood – his usual fiefdom on Rua Tribulete is under construction – Diop says that he signed up one of his sons, Khadim, 9 years old, for the Dragões, motivated by the club’s inclusive philosophy, and smiles when he imagines that his other son, Samba, 2 years old, will one day be “a future dragon”. A desire he pursues because he knows firsthand that children will be able to enjoy a safe space to practice the sport they love. “If I were a millionaire I would put all my money here”, he jokes. “I fight for my children to be educated and to respect their opponents. This team is like a house where they teach to treat everyone equally, without looking at race, physique or gender and that the result is not what is important.
Dragones de Lavapiés is the club selected by LALIGA and PUMA to be the ambassador of a new joint initiative, HERE YOU PLAY TO PLAY. The project aims to combat the competitive pressure suffered by more and more boys and girls who dream of a place in football and will continue through lectures and other activities with clubs to raise awareness among children, as well as training coaches and technical staff. In its first season it brought together seven clubs: in addition to Dragones, CDE Amistad de Alcorcón and CDE La Plata de Madrid; to Bufalá CF from Barcelona; to CD Valdefierro de Zaragoza; to US San Vicente de Barakaldo (Bizkaia) and to CD Thader de Alicante. In total, 4,000 boys and girls who already benefit from a philosophy that frees them from harmful environments. The initiative foresees that every year more clubs will join the cause to try to inspire young generations of footballers with the essential values of grassroots football: “Learning, camaraderie and fun”, they explain in LALIGA.
On October 7th, the project was presented on the Casino de la Reina pitch, football epicenter of Lavapiés, where one of the campaign’s symbols was revealed: the heaviest football shirt in the world, a 21 kg piece designed by the YY++ studio that represents the hatred and pressure that children feel. And in doing so convey a message: the demand to win at all costs has no place in grassroots football.
Stop bullying through the ball
LALIGA and PUMA have joined forces to combat the pressure that boys and girls feel in grassroots football, for reasons, among others, such as bullying. A cause that concerns more and more families. According to a study by LALIGA VS and PUMA, this is the main problem for seven out of ten parents, following a survey by the organization with a sample of 1,281 parents, in which 1,952 children were also analyzed. The data reflects this: more than 80% of respondents believe that the climate is excessively competitive among younger people and three in four parents believe that their children are under excessive pressure to win.
The perception is similar among football parents, those who follow and experience grassroots football matches first-hand. Four out of ten consider that the intimidation It’s an episode that happens very often. 80% believe that the atmosphere at these meetings is, in general, positive.
Given these numbers, AQUI SE JUEGA JUGAR chose Dragones de Lavapiés as the project’s ambassador due to its philosophy. “We work from a perspective in which we are not punitive”, summarizes Dolores Galindo, president of the club for five years, who maintains the spirit of Jorge Bolaños, who founded the sports entity in 2011 to combat discrimination. “We must protect children who suffer intimidation and those who do, because they can also be victims of many types of violence. What we work on are the relationships that exist at the club to give them security”, argues Galindo.
The president highlights the transcendental role of coaches. “It’s not that we have a magic recipe, but we have a great diversity of technicians and, through their experiences, we have the power to deactivate a lot of violence, as they are role models for children”.
Cynthia Fritz, 23 years old from Vallecana, has been coaching one of the Dragones teams for three years. “We apply a base of values such as cooperation, respect and commitment to yourself and others. If any conflict arises, we try to resolve it in the best possible way”, he explains, about the philosophy that makes this team “a little different from the norm in other spaces”. Faced with possible situations of excessive competitiveness, Fritz advocates trying to prevent them. “Here the results don’t matter. I’m better off with a person who causes me less conflict and behaves better with others than someone who has enormous football skills.”
The heaviest t-shirt in the world
The alliance between LALIGA and PUMA reinforces their cultural and social commitment to ending hate on and off the playing field. “We intend to give back to society everything it gives us. We consider that we have a responsibility to create safe spaces where children can play”, explained Jorge de la Vega, LALIGA’s Business Director, at the end of the project’s presentation event on the courts of the Casino de la Reina, in Lavapiés. For Esteve Planas, general director of southern Europe at PUMA, he highlighted that another of the strategy’s pillars is to consolidate the essential values of grassroots football. “It all comes down to one word: inclusion, allowing everyone to be welcome in the game and having a positive view of the people who play.”
Professional players such as Óscar Trejo (Rayo Vallecano), Juan Iglesias (Getafe CF) and Nuria Mendoza (Levante UD women’s), as well as former footballers such as Fernando Morientes and Miguel Ángel Moyá, chosen to wear the heaviest shirt in the world, were invited to the project’s presentation event. “It’s heavy, it’s heavy. I can’t even catch the ball easily,” said the former goalkeeper, who played 274 games in LALIGA EA SPORTS. Moyá, father of a nine-year-old boy who also wants to follow in his footsteps, sent a strong message to his parents that summarizes the philosophy of AQUI YOU PLAY TO PLAY. “Have fun and make your kids have fun.”
The passion for playing
At the launch of the project, the advertisement that accompanies the campaign was revealed (see the video below). A place where professional actors were not used, but boys and girls from the lower categories of Dragones de Lavapiés. The video was designed, they explain at LALIGA, to convey “what football should never lose: the passion for playing”. After the exhibition, the young Dragones present at the event sang the cry that characterizes the team, an example of inclusion, diversity and respect: “One, two, three: Dragones de Lavapiés”. The project will continue through lectures and other activities with clubs to raise awareness among children and train coaches and technical staff.
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