VALENCIA. Many times things happen in the United States and are then replicated in the rest of the world. It happened with the passion for running. That sprung up in North America after Frank Shorter’s triumph in the Munich 72 Olympic marathon and then ended up filling the paths and parks of half the planet with runners. The phenomenon that is coming will not be as powerful or as global, but I see certain parallels between women’s basketball in the United States and in Spain.
I already told you once, right here, about the phenomenon that is being experienced in ‘Yankeeland’ with Caitlin Clark, an exceptional basketball player with an outside shooting skill that had never been seen before. Her fame has been increasing and she already holds the absolute scoring record of the NCAA, the university league, counting both men and women. The guard surpassed Pete Maravich and is crushing one record after another. Her team, the Hawkeyes, has won the Big Ten for the third consecutive year and is now entering March Madness with the intention of reaching the Final Four. A quick glance at her Instagram feed shows the extent of her impact: post after post sponsored by some commercial firm.
The popularity of women’s basketball does not only drink from the exploits and mastery of the game of Caitlin Clark. Also pulling the wagon are Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, JuJu Watkins and Kamilla Cardoso, the center from South Carolina, the team that reaches the final stretch of the NCAA, the national championship, undefeated. For the first time, interest in women’s basketball has surpassed that of men’s. Something that Kevin Garnett himself recognizes. The Celtics legend says he now knows more college players than male players himself.
In Spain there is no team that has managed to get 55,000 spectators around a field (another milestone in Caitlin Clark’s account), but in the 2023 Queen’s Cup final there were 10,000. That game is remembered as if all of women’s basketball had surpassed a bar. That is why many do not understand that the next edition, that of 2024, which began this Thursday, will be held in Huelva, which does not have elite basketball and that its pavilion, the Carolina Marín Sports Palace, does not have 6,000 seats.
Talent emerges in spurts in many cities. Every year there are new young women who dazzle with their game. The templates are broader and more powerful. I remember other times in basketball with teams that only had a couple of guaranteed substitutes. That is history and I feel that women’s basketball still has to grow more. Once sexist prejudices have been overcome, many of those who enjoy a game become hooked. And young people like Raquel Carrera, Paula Ginzo, María Conde, Mayte Cazorla or Megan Gustafson are recruiting thousands of girls who want to be like them.
For this reason, I think it makes no sense to put limits (of capacity) on this phenomenon that is also being experienced in Spain. Valencia has also recovered the fans where Dorna Godella and Ros Casares previously triumphed, and in the 2023 playoffs we already saw that more than 5,000 spectators could go to Fonteta. It is time to pay this trend.
2024-03-22 05:04:43
#LaCantina #great #boost #womens #basketball #Fernando #Miñana #iFerches
