Patricia García: “The biggest challenge is not in the field, but in changing mentalities”
The former rugby player claims the need to have female references and end prejudices
Madrid, 5 March 2025.- Patricia García, former international rugby player and current coach, stars in the third part of the series of interviews being broadcast by the Higher Sports Council (CSD) on the occasion of International Women’s Day, which is commemorated this Saturday, 8 March.
For the athlete from Madrid, Olympic diploma in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and five-time European champion with the Spanish Rugby XV team, “it is important that the girls see that they can play and that there are women like them, because what is not seen is not dreamed”.
“I believe that there is a social stigma and a certain prejudice towards women who practice rugby, historically considered as a sport for men,” says García, founder in addition to the PGR ONG, dedicated to social education in values through sport.
“More and more girls, young women and women are practising this sport, not only in Spain but globally.The growth is incredible and fortunately, little by little, socially we are establishing a culture of greater equality”, he reflects.
A growth that, as the athlete herself recognizes, needs visibility and references: “When I start to become an international player I become aware of how important it is to have close references and references for girls who start playing rugby at an early age.”
“That is why Las Leonas and, above all, our generation, have been aware of the importance of generating these references, of working on visibility not only on the Internet, on social networks, but also in the press, in events, so that future girls and young people who want to play rugby could see the players who at that time wore the Leonas jersey.”
A particularly necessary visibility if we take into account that women are only present in 15.4% of radio sports news, a figure that drops to 8.2% on television, according to the study promoted by the CSD, funded by NextCreationEU funds and published, precisely, on International Women’s Day 2023.
For Patricia García, it is also necessary that there be a greater female presence in decision-making positions, since “there are very few leaders and directors in the offices”, which requires that there be “more opportunities for women in all their education to consider being able to be rugby players, to be able to be directors, to consider being able to be entrepreneurs and, when those moments of forging themselves in experience, knowledge and studies arrive, to have a sufficiently forged mentality in equality to be able to think that they can reach great heights”.
Nevertheless, the former rugby player highlights that, since its beginnings in 2007-2008, she has seen “a great advance in terms of the role of women not only on the field but also outside”, with an increasing number of female figures in areas such as arbitration and training.
In fact, thanks to the promotion of public policies, the presence of women on the Boards of Directors of Spanish sports federations has increased by 40% since 2018, from a total of 233 women to almost 330.
Patricia García concludes her interview for the CSD with an appeal to future generations: “If there is a girl who has any doubts about social judgment or what they will say, or about comments she may receive about sports or, specifically, rugby, I would say that if she wants to play, she should play, which is a sport like any other.”
“The biggest challenge is not in the field, but in changing mindsets. That is why we are trying to pave the way for the new generations to grow without limits or inequality,” he concludes.
His testimony is already available on the CSD’s YouTube channel and social media.
Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TNf8AXKnM_U
The commitment to equality in sport
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, this Saturday, March 8, the CSD will organize an institutional event that will include a colloquium between the sportspeople Aauri Bokesa, Ana Ortega ‘Furia’, Eva Moral, María Vicente and Patricia García and the installation of several sports stations so that children, young people and adolescents can practice sports together with their references.
This activity, open to the general public, will close a day of demand on the role of women in sport that will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the sports hall located on the -2 floor of the CSD institutional building.
As an institution responsible for promoting public policies in the field of sports, the CSD maintains a firm commitment to equality, either through the promotion of initiatives that promote the participation of women in sport, the visibility of female references or the support of specific programs that favor real equality in the sports field.
