“The excitement of each week”, this is the most repeated definition when inmates are asked what training day means to them. that they have a week in sports activities in a prison. The answer is the same whether she is an inmate in the Galician center of A Lama like Luz Masiel or in a maximum security center in Palencia like Neftali and Montero.
The A Lama inmate explained to the AS journalist, Amalia Fra, her soccer experience on the team at her Penitentiary Center: “Playing soccer again, I played it since I was very little, it has been a very big turning point, It has saved me from a lot. The experience of football in a Penitentiary Center is not easy to explain, you have to live it. I am waiting for training day, in our case Monday, ready to go to training, I really enjoy training and every play with my teammates. “It’s my favorite day of the week.”
Since 2007, the Spanish Federation of Football and Penitentiary Institutions has had an agreement that allows football to be another means of reintegration for people deprived of liberty. It is precisely this agreement that has allowed Luz Masiel to rediscover this sport that she has been passionate about since she was little: “As a child I always remember being with a ball and playing soccer with my friends. I experienced women’s football when no one went to the field, no one supported. But that has changed a lot.”
Thanks to that agreement, In 45 penitentiary centers throughout Spain, sports instructor courses, introduction to refereeing and coaching, internal competitions, and motivational talks are held. in which legends of the National Team participate such as Quique Estebaranz, Juan Carlos or Julio Alberto, among others and an InterCentros Tournament, all of them in coordination by the different territorial Federations together with Rubén Losantos, the Federation coordinator for the development of this agreement .