There is no figure that is particularly popular, there are hardly any matches broadcast on television and titles for Spain in international championships are a tall order, but volleyball boasts of being the sixth sport in number of federative licenses, with about 121,000, and of them, 70% are for women (85,657), which gives this discipline a markedly feminine accent.
In 2024, there were 1.07 million federated women in Spain, of which 7.5% were in volleyball, only surpassed by basketball (157,432), soccer (109,874) and mountain and climbing (105,053).
Some of the reasons for this weight in terms of chips come from a long time ago, with a model in which volleyball has always been deeply rooted in schools, its great quarry, but they are still valid because from 2023 to 2024 alone, there was an increase of almost 18,000 female chips, which denotes that the attraction continues.
To explain the female preponderance, the president of the Royal Spanish Volleyball Federation, Felipe Pascual, argues that “strength and physical capacity” are very present factors in the first stage of most sports, while in volleyball “skill and coordination” prevail more.
“Initiation is more attractive because it is not strength that makes one good or bad, so girls feel more comfortable,” says Pascual.
He also observes that while sports such as soccer or basketball attracted children to federate them at an early age, volleyball was not specialized before the age of twelve, so girls were the ones who played it.
“No sport demanded them and that’s why they came to volleyball, while the boys had chosen a sport at five, six or seven years old. It is not a sport that has excluded boys, but it has been the other way around, many sports have excluded girls,” adds the president of the federation.
In addition to highlighting that almost all clubs have teams of both sexes, Pascual is pleased that volleyball is one of the few sports that always uses men’s and women’s sports to differentiate it, by giving it equal status.
“In the majority, gender is only added to talk about girls, while we do not have a presumption that there is an official product that is the male version and then the female version. And that has also helped women feel comfortable,” he adds.
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Men are also increasingly entering volleyball
Helia González retired last summer on the verge of turning 40 as the most successful in Spanish volleyball, with 30 national titles, in addition to having been the captain of the national team.
González explains that one of the reasons why girls practice this discipline more at school is that it is not contact, like soccer or basketball, and the difference with men is not so great on a technical level, while aspects such as continuity in the game are prioritized over power.
“It is a very attractive sport for girls and work in the lower categories attracts many because they have that interest,” says the former Galician player.
Despite the good health of women’s volleyball, the now member of the federation’s coaching staff sees certain gaps, such as the lack of visibility in the media, partially alleviated by the space they do find on social networks.
He also points out that just the base is not enough and resources must be increased so that they do not abandon the practice before reaching the age of majority and are encouraged to compete at the highest level.
“Many girls play when they are little and then stop or do not consider becoming professionals. It is important to give us visibility and create spaces where athletes are references,” says Helia González.
Graciela Martínez knows the ins and outs of grassroots volleyball well because she has presided over the Chamartín Vergara Sports Club since 2017, one of the most traditional in Madrid, which also has soccer teams.
She shares that the female connection with volleyball was born at school, because “it was more of a girl’s sport,” but she perceives a change in trend.
“Women are starting to play soccer and boys are starting to play volleyball,” reflects Martínez, who does not see the beautiful sport as a “threat” that detracts from the game on the court because since the pandemic there is demand for many sports.
Beach volleyball also contributed to the increase in female players, the variant that covers the break in the track season, where men are increasingly more present.
“It is not 50-50 yet, but many are starting to play beach volleyball, because they think it is a more feminine sport, but they see that it is very physically demanding,” says Belén Carro, international with Spain and several times national champion on the sand.
With information from EFE
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