The fourth protagonist of the “Women who move sport” series of features is Ángela Escudero (Ourense, 1944), a true pioneer of female refereeing in pétanque. As well as being the first female pétanque referee in both Catalonia and Spain, Ángela Escudero has also been an international referee for many years. As a result, she was able to take part in the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, where she managed to arrange, for the first time ever, for pétanque events for people with disabilities to have specialist referees; as well as in two editions (1999 and 2003) of the Special Olympics.
Ángela Escudero is aware that she has paved the way for many women and that she is a role model for all those who have followed her example: “I was the first woman, and I have paved the way for others. Because they haven’t had to go through what I went through”. Because the path I had to take was not an easy one: “When I applied to become a referee, I didn’t know there were no female referees. And I was surprised when at first they said no. And that’s where my fight started”. A year and a half of insisting finally yielded results, and in 1987 she became the first female referee in the Catalan Pétanque Federation: “I went to the federation every Monday. When they got fed up, after a year and a half of seeing me there, they called me to take the exam. And this sentence was burnt into my memory: “‘How can I possibly say she failed when she got the top grade?’”
After promoting her sport, pétanque, for forty years, in 2018 she was awarded the “Mireia Tapiador award for the promotion of sport”, as part of the Women and Sport Awards, in recognition of her work over all these years of dedication. This was a very special honour for her: “The Women and Sport Award meant more than anything to me. Because the Paralympic people put me forward for it, and they felt that what I had done was enough to win this prize. When they told me, I started crying and couldn’t believe it”.
Women and Sport Award, 13 years with sportswomen
The “Women who move sport” series of features will act as a prelude to the 13th edition of the Women and Sport Award. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the winners of this year’s award will be announced in an online ceremony to be held on 17 December at 7 pm. You can watch the event as a premiere on the Esports website and the BCN Esports YouTube channel.
The goal of the event is to raise the profile of the achievements of women, united in their passion and devotion to physical activity and sport. The awards have also opened up a new means of dissemination and knowledge of stories and reflections on the role of women in sport, in order to help achieve a more equal presence in all age ranges and all fields of physical activity and sport.