Ane Azkona on Athletic’s rise, industry gap and International Women’s Day | OneFootball

Ane Azkona, 27, reflects on Athletic Club’s women, the gulf to the men’s industry and life beyond football on International Women’s Day.

After Tuesday training at Lezama she headed to a placement in an early-care centre in Algorta with children with special needs, a plan B for when playing stops. According to El Correo, she balances football with being a reference point for girls.

She accepts the men would beat them and dislikes comparisons, likening them to contrasting men’s and women’s 100 metres. For her they are different industries, the women’s side began in 2002 and, at Athletic, injuries are met with next-day scans.

Playing at San Mamés gives a surge of energy, even in split-second glances to the stands. Families and children are their core crowd, and she says relations with the men’s squad are good.

Azkona spent eight years in ballet before choosing football, moved to Lezama at 18, debuted in 2016 on her mother’s birthday and learned for three seasons with Athletic B, with grandparents proud their first granddaughter had reached that level.

On the club’s barge celebrations, she calls it a persistent dilemma, saying they have won titles and keep pushing for better conditions, that among them. On eight March she plans to march in Pamplona, thanking predecessors whose gains let women play openly.

Source: El Correo