The Catalan Igualada Hockey Club has long been one of the best ice hockey clubs in Spain, both the men’s and women’s teams. But due to a recent lack of sponsorship and a cut in subsidies caused by the ongoing Spanish economic crisis, the company decided it could only keep the men’s squad.
The women’s players, as aggressive off the ice as on, quickly charged into action, launching a campaign to save the team that includes, among other things, a video of images of all of the players standing nude with black war paint striped across their cheeks.
An Argentine player on the team, Solange Albares Centrángolo, 27, spoke to Clarin: “When we were dropped by the club, we felt like we had nothing, that we were helpless and had no time to react. So we decided to fight for what we believe in and, at the same time, give hope and strength to others in sports who are going through the same thing.”
The idea of the video came from one of the players, Jordi Besa. “She pointed out that posing naked was similar to what we were going through — they left us with nothing,” said Centrángolo. “Putting on the war paint expresses the strength of our fight.”
The aim of the video is to get the team reinstated to Spain’s top ice hockey league, and has indeed helped find potential new sponsors. “We’re so grateful, but we still have a long way to go as this is only 30% of our budget for the season.”
