SPORTS: A KEY ASPECT TO UNDERSTANDING DISCIPLINES: A book on sports disciplines, teams and high performance

Sport has lived in recent decades far beyond its economic and social capacity. In an article published in El País on March 31, 2013, journalist Carlos Arribas affirms that there are twenty-five Spanish federations in technical bankruptcy, with what this implies for elite athletes. Arribas breaks down the audits carried out by the federations and summarizes that a large number of federation presidents have annual salaries of 60,000 euros, at the level of a Secretary of State. Expeditions to competitions with more managers than athletes, first-class tickets, wild meals … complete the breakdown. It is one more example of what has emerged incessantly lately, the mismanagement of public and private institutions. In this case, sports.
I will give more arguments when I talk about the hard work of the elite athlete. In my team, Askartza Waterpolo, of the fifteen components that make up the men’s team, 80% are pursuing a university degree. Even my Valencian colleague Nando Valdivieso, who is one of the only ones who receives money, has enrolled at the University at a distance. We know that water polo will not feed us. Compare and, if you see this percentage in a Third Division soccer team, at least you let us know. I myself am studying a Bachelor of History in Gasteiz, with a hellish afternoon schedule that does not allow me to attend all classes because I have a duty to my colleagues to train as one more. The travel expenses (different buses, subways …) are paid by me, or rather, my parents, because I am not allowed to access an elite athlete scholarship due to the demands made to obtain such scholarship.