CATALAN SPORT

Summary of the most outstanding achievements of the Catalan athletes during the weekend.

The Spanish Team, European champion (basketball)

The Spanish National Basketball Team crowned European Champions after defeating France in the final by 71-55. Four Catalan players played part in this success, Laia Palau, Anna Cruz, Marta Xargay and Sílvia Domínguez, as well as the coach Lucas Mondelo.

Ona Carbonell and Paula Ramírez, gold medal at the World Series FINA America Synchro Open - New York (synchronized swimming)

Ona Carbonell and Paula Ramírez climbed to the top of the podium in the free duo's routine of the World Series FINA America Synchro Open - New York. In addition, Ona Carbonell took the gold as well in free single's.

Ragna Debats, first at the Olympus Marathon (mountain races)

Ragna Debats achieved her first victory in a Skyrunning World Cup test. The runner from CEM La Cameta Coixa crossed the Olympus Marathon finish line in the first position with the time of 5 hours and 18 minutes, which means a new record for this test in the female category.

Kilian Jornet wins the Mont Blanc Marathon (mountain races)

Kilian Jornet won the Mont Blanc Marathon with a time of 3 hours and 45 minutes. The end of the race was very tight between the Catalan runner and Stian Angermund-Vik, current champion of the world skyrunning and the vertical kilometer, who came second with 1 minute and 20 secons behind Jornet.

The DKV Borges Vall and the Suris Calella, champion of the Copa del Rei and the Copa de la Reina (table tennis)

DKV Borges Vall and Suris Calella added their second title of the Copa del Rei and the Copa de la Reina in Almeria respectively. In the male category DKV Borges Vall beat the UCAM Cartagena in the final, while in the women's category it was an all Catalan final, with victory for Suris Calella ahead of Girbau Vic TT.

Barça B gets to the Second Division (football))

After two season in Second B, Barça B will play again, the next campaign, in the silver category of state football. The 'azulgranas' were promoted to the Second Division after defeating Racing de Santander in the final round.

HOCKEY

The 16 men and women under 18’s combined, respectively trained by Jordi Camps and Josep Maria Barberà, beat all their rivals in suffocating heat.

The Catalan under 16’s men and women's under-18’s roller hockey teams have released the new national shirt with a lot of wins that have allowed them to win the XXII Spanish Championship of regional selections last weekend in Seville.

The temperatures of the Andalusian capital, during the day, hovered at around 45 degrees and the players of some of the players suffered the consequences. That is why the morning sessions were brought forward to 8.30 am and the afternoon was delayed, which set back the last match of the day until 11.15 p.m. But the heat was not an impediment to the Catalan teams of Jordi Camps and Josep Maria Barberà, the male and female team coaches, respectively, who revalidated the double that last season Catalonia also won.

In the group stage, the male under-16’s imposed consecutively those of Madrid (6 to 0), Andalusia (14 to 2), Navarra (13 to 0) and Andorra (9 to 0), who participated in the Championship as a guest. In the semifinal, they ran through 8 to 0 against Galicia, who finished third in the final, and in the final, they demonstated superiority against Asturias, winning by 4 to 0. The members of the team were Sergi Duch, Sergi Folguera , Martí Gabarró, Ferran Giménez, Gerard Llobet, Jordi Mateos, Erik Oms, Aleix Ordóñez, Jordi Pons and Roc Pujadas.

For their part, the female under-18’s team, led by Josep Maria Barberà, also won the title by winning every match. Undefeated in the format of a single group, they thrashed Galicia (5 to 1), Valencia (13-0), Euskadi, (11-0), Madrid (4-1) and Asturias (5-0). The selection was made up of Laura Barcons, Júlia Canal, Joana Comas, Anna Ferrer, Carla Fontdeglòria, Laia Navarrete, Victoria Porta, Maria Pujadas, Gemma Solé and Marta Soler.

UFEC

Hockey competitions, indoor football and, at the weekend, water polo have served as a stage for awareness of the sportsman's environment about the values ​​of sport and net play

That Saturday was a great day. After a whole season in which the youngsters had trained, competed, shared hours with their teammates and coaches, after having savored victories and learned in the defeats during the regular season, on Saturday, June 3rd, the Municipal Pavilion of Sallent hosted the Final Four for indoor football in the Prebenjamí and Aleví categories.

For a long time, it has been usual to finish the season with the celebration of the final four, in the higher categories. For the lower categories, it is novelty. As explained by José Luis Torres, director of the Catalan Federation of Five-a-side football, "we wanted to adapt this practice to the youngsters, bearing in mind that in these categories competition is not the most important thing." Values ​​such as coexistence between clubs, hobbies and doing sport are, in addition to the extra motivation that it can be played by kids, make this type of competition an ideal setting for younger children to enjoy sports as a means of education, Teamwork, self-improvement, self-criticism and commitment, respect and growth. 

In this sense, the Union of Sports Federations of Catalonia, in conjunction with the Catalan Federation of five-a-side, wanted to take advantage of the framework that this competition offered to carry out the new initiative within the campaign 'So now I’ll play' that promotes sport and its values through sportsmanship.

A number of actors and actresses interpreted various amateur roles such as bad behavior towards the referee, coaches and sportsmen, while an actor who performed as an athlete on the track, feeling unhappy, raised a poster with the phrase 'I won’t play'. The antagonist, realizing his inadequate behavior, changed his attitude and the actors and actresses, together with the rest of the fans, began to encourage the sportsman with coexistence and respect. As a result of this change of attitude, the athlete started playing again, raising a poster with the phrase 'So now I’ll play'.

The applause was widespread before and after the actor, who performed the role of the athlete, read the manifesto that concluded the performance. This manifesto emphasizes the fact that sport creates many of the values ​​that help us to learn how to adapt to different situations both in the world of sport and in life in general, at the same time it invites the fans to enjoy Sport and competition with sportsmanship.

The Federation Union wanted to give a new impetus to the campaign 'So now I’ll play' with this new campaign, conscious of the importance of awareness of the sportsman's environment about the values ​​of sport and clean play. And it has been welcomed by federations such as the Five-a-side, whose president, Daniel Vives, convinced of the need to carry out this type of campaign, affirmed that "Federations like ours need the support of the Union of Federations to do these campaigns. It is vital to bring this to the youngest, and also to the not so young, that this is sport: you can win or lose, but respect, coexistence or the acquisition of habits that will serve you for life are inseparable values ​​in the Sport practice ".

 On the subject, the Catalan Swimming Federation, which will be celebrate this Sunday, June 25th, in the Municipal Swimming Pools of Montjuïc, the Final Phase of the Catalonia Water Polo Championship, among others, has also been added. A Competition in which, at 11 in the morning, the representation will be performed as it wants to raise awareness of the enjoyment of sport and competition with good sportsmanship.