The contribution of women to the promotion of Benfica’s eclecticism is an undeniable fact today. When Carolina Beatriz Ângelo, widow of the president of Benfica, Januário Barreto, became the first Portuguese woman to exercise the right to vote in Portugal in 1911 after a fight for women’s rights in court, 111 years later, Clube da Luz continues to honor history with its commitment (and success) to women’s sport.
The 2021-22 season ended with six national championships won and multiple trophies. In addition to the success of the women’s handball, basketball, futsal, soccer, roller hockey and water polo teams, there is also a strong focus on sports such as athletics or judo and the Olympic project, which is led by Ana Oliveira and whose Telma Monteiro is known as the undisputed queen. In total there are 174 athletes representing Benfica at senior level (and many more in training), 15 sports in total.
Roller hockey became champion for the ninth time in a row, equaling the achievement of Marias (the famous volleyball team in the 60s and 70s), which is also the Benfica record in the pavilion modalities. It was the last pavilion modality created (2012) and finished the season with a new Portuguese Cup (the eighth in history) by beating Sporting in the final. They had already won the Super Cup and narrowly missed the Europa League final, led by Marlene Sousa.
“Benfica is an example for every club in Portugal and in the world. Just look at the numbers and the performance of women’s teams. Besides investing in teams and educating champions, it also invests in educating people. I attended a university training at the club’s scholarship,” revealed to DN Marlene Sousa.
The hockey star acknowledged that she lives a reality that for years she thought was unimaginable: “We have a coach, assistant coach, scouting, doctor, physiotherapist, physiologist, nutritionist… Right now all we have to worry about is about playing and nothing else.” And while he knows this reality doesn’t apply to all clubs, he hopes the eagles’ example can attract more female practitioners (fewer than 600 in the country).
Today, Marlene feels that she is “regarded as an athlete and not a woman who plays”. And that for “it’s worth more than a goal or a personal trophy”. According to the captain of Benfica “there is a great complicity and union” between the athletes of the different sports of the club: “I went to a basketball final and in our Portuguese cup final I saw colleagues from futsal and volleyball in the stands. If we want that more visibility and more people see us in the pavilions, we must unite and support our professional colleague.”
Soccer and futsal records
Four years after the return of the eagles to handball (a sport created in 1972) and 29 years after the last national title, Papilas Rubras became champion again this year and also won the Portuguese Cup. The double rewarded a team that won 30 (!) in 31 matches and drew one.
An almost flawless record that was reflected in basketball, which reaffirmed the national title and even added the Portuguese Cup, the Super Cup and the Federation Cup. All this with just two defeats in 38 games. Trophies honoring the club’s pioneering spirit in women’s basketball, created 90 years ago – after several interruptions, it returned to remain in 2010.
More recently (founded in 2002), but with resounding success, the indoor football team went through many changes at the start of the season, but on the field the new eagles gave no room to their opponents and wrote history with an unprecedented fifth championship, after the winning the Super Cup (also for the fifth consecutive time), missing the League Cup final and losing the Portuguese Cup.
Outside the pavilions, water polo celebrated the title for the third consecutive year and women’s football was crowned twice, after beating Sporting (3-1) in May, in front of 14,221 spectators (a record of participation in a match, on the stands of Estadio da Luz). The season was also marked by the unprecedented presence in the Champions League of a Portuguese team, disguising the defeat in the League Cup final, the lost Super Cup and the poor participation in the Portuguese Cup (eliminated in the round of 16). Women’s football is one of President Rui Costa’s biggest bets, and according to the DN, the budget of the first team is already bigger than that of the men’s B team.
Of the collective sports pavilion, volleyball was the only one in which Benfica did not become a champion. After Marias’ resounding success, the section went through a deep crisis and closed between 1994 and 2018. Since then, she has been battling for the coveted title. This year, the team that advanced in the 2019-20 division finished the season in fourth place and were eliminated from the Portuguese Cup in the quarter-finals. Despite this, there are competitions whose attendance is higher than that of the men’s teams. In rugby, Benfica placed 4th in the 15 variant and 3rd in the sevens variant.
Fernando Tavares: “Let no one ever despise the human capital we invest in the sports universe”
“Benfica has always been a pioneer in the identification and ambition to achieve balance in the practice of national sports. An even bigger gamble on the female side is to continue our commitment to follow the downward curve in the practice of women’s sports in Portugal. with the entrance to university and the beginning of professional life. Today, with great pride, we have an extensive female eclectic universe and from year to year we have made an effort to improve the working conditions of all our athletes”, praised by DN the vice president of Benfica for the modalities, Fernando Tavares.
The focus was not only on sports, but “all areas related to performance” as well as construction and infrastructure. The modalities of the women have four team managers, one of them is Rita Martins, regarded by the Federation as the best futsal player of the century. And virtually all athletes are regularly supported by Benfica professionals in the most diverse areas. And, in some cases, real multidisciplinary teams: “Let no one ever despise the human capital we invest in the sports universe.”
According to the manager, Benfica is now working “so that regular monitoring of training analysis, observation, video, etc. is a normal reality in all women’s teams, which has been happening practically since the beginning of the football team.”
And since success is priceless, the club prefers “not to disclose” how much it has already invested or invested in women’s sports: “The main goal is to write Benfica’s name in the victories, but never forget the human values and the important role it has in the country to improve the practice of sports and even improve the balance in society. I ask: what other club, or even sports organization or organization, invests so much in Portugal? What other club, possibly even at an international level, believes as much as Benfica, where women compete for titles in football, handball, basketball, futsal, roller hockey, volleyball, athletics, canoeing, water polo, rugby, swimming, triathlon, gymnastics, judo and others. martial arts, etc.?”
For Fernando Tavares, one of the greatest victories is to be able to say that many of the athletes are already able to “aim for a career”. This is also why the issue of gender equality may have to start with opportunity.
“We need to be aware of the terrain we are entering. We are in a country that as a whole needs to believe more in sport and invest in infrastructure that discovers more talents and enables them to reach the level they can reach . There are many boys and girls who dream and try to become athletes in Portugal, but many in senior competitions do not have fields, training places, a locker room with conditions. Benfica is a million-dollar club and what we demand of ourselves is to provide the best possible opportunities. Those who come to our teams know that they will benefit from visibility and a top-notch environment that they are unlikely to be able to match in many clubs,” the vice president defended.
isaura.almeida@dn.pt
Source: El heraldo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
