The promotion of inclusive football has been consolidated as one of the major commitments of the FC Barcelona supporters’ clubs movement, especially in recent years. Last weekend, the Penya Barcelonista Montgrí i Comarca (Federació Empordà i Catalunya Nord) and the Penya Blaugrana de Vallirana (Federació Baix Llobregat) highlighted this with initiatives that demonstrated the values of respect, equality and non-discrimination defended by the blaugrana penyes.
7-a-side Football Tournament in the PB Montgrí i Comarca
In the case of the PB Montgrí i Comarca, it organised its 1st Inclusive 7-a-side Football Tournament as part of the celebration of its 50th anniversary. The competition took place in three different categories and had the participation of six teams: FC Barcelona Genuine, Girona Genuine, Abadessenc Pro, CE Mont-ras, Junts i Endavant de Banyoles, and Baix Empordà Specials. The scenario was the Municipal Sports Field of Torroella de Montgrí, which lived a very special day during the Saturday morning.
The event was attended by the mayor of Torroella de Montgrí, Jordi Colomí; the councilor of Sports, Genís Pigem; the councilor of Commerce, Tourism and Fairs, Dúnia Oliveras; and representatives of the Catalan Football Federation, headed by the delegate to Girona, Jordi Bonet. Once the tournament was over, where, beyond the winners, respect and good atmosphere among all participants prevailed, a fraternity meal was held at the Hotel Panorama of L’Estartit.
Training session at PB Vallirana
The other committed entity was the PB Vallirana, which last Sunday organized its 1st Inclusive Football Day at the Municipal Football Field of its locality. In this case, it was a training session with children, youth and adolescents of the Asdiva Association of Vallirana, which works for people with functional diversity. The day, which also collaborated with the Rugby Club Cervelló and the City Council of Vallirana, had coaches, monitors and volunteers who always accompanied the players.
Present during the event were the president of the PB Vallirana, Jordi Roca, along with many members of this penya, as well as the councilors of the Vallirana City Council Héctor Mena, Óscar Suñé, María Mateo and Inma Fernández. During the training session, a solidarity raffle was held with several gifts, the proceeds of which (about 300 euros) went to the work of the Association Asdiva. The PB Vallirana plans to repeat soon this initiative, which has been a success.
