In the framework of International Women's Day, and with the objective of promoting awareness about equality so that everyone has the same opportunities in any area of life, the Human Development Department of Club Deportivo Guadalajara organized the Women in Sports Forum, with the participation of outstanding national athletes, who shared part of their life stories and details of their professional careers.
This event was held so that the players of the different categories of the Rojiblanca Youth Squad could have real testimonies from their protagonists about their experiences of all kinds on the road to success in their respective disciplines.
Frontennis players Laura Puentes and Dulce Figueroa, track athlete Cristina Guevara, basketball players Andrea Medina and Alejandra Ortíz, as well as Chivas Femenil goalkeeper Blanca Félix shared with all and all the young soccer players of the Rebaño how they got ahead through their own conviction and the support of their families and friends; they also took the opportunity to provide messages of encouragement so that those present are clear that with discipline and work they can open doors and have the opportunities they have dreamed of so much.
Laura Puentes: "It is a difficult road, because in frontenis men triple the number of women in the number of practitioners, and doing it with them is difficult because they never recognize you for your effort and triumphs, that makes you strong when competing with rivals from other parts of the world because you arrive with another mentality."
Dulce Figueroa: "In my neighborhood in the CDMX the frontenis courts are full of men and they played with their hands, so being a woman and carrying a racquet made it very difficult to practice, but thanks to that I learned not to give up, you have to be very strong mentally to not give up, not only in sports, but also in life".
Andrea Medina: "I have been very lucky to be able to inspire many girls and young people, to motivate them to exercise, when I was part of the Jalisco team I had to come to train in Guadalajara, my coach said 'how a girl from a small town (Lagos de Moreno) was going to beat the ones from the city', so I am proud because I am one of the pioneers in professional basketball; I hope that future generations do better, in the end it will be worth what they do".
Blanca Felix: "The phrase we have all heard is 'soccer is for men', but my grandmother told me 'many people will say that what you do is not right, you do not do wrong, if it is what you are passionate about, enjoy it and do not care what they say', and when I played with my cousins I enjoyed it so much that I thought that they could not take this feeling away from me because I was a girl".
Alejandra Ortíz: "Nobody teaches us that we are people before we are athletes, because athletes are full of expectations, and what happens if I don't make it? At least I have had to hit a wall on the issue of mental health, in the professional I found another reality, I fell into a depressive episode, I no longer wanted to train or do anything, and it is something that I continue to struggle with, I want to invite them to prioritize their mental health.
Cristina Guevara: "there is a certain inclination in the confidence in some things in men, in the end everything is in the skills, the experience, the knowledge that the person has, in my enrollment of 35 people, I have more men, it is a challenge for me, I want to show them that I can make them better athletes, that gender does not define quality".
