Does the ball have to be the queen of the yard?

It’s midmorning and the doorbell rings. The children drag the chairs and rush out of the classroom. Is break time. Some run around. Many girls sit or stroll along the ends of the paved surface of the playground. In the center, the protagonist is the ball. The pachangas and shots are repeated between several groups made up of students and also some female students.

The image has been repeated day after day for decades in hundreds of schools in the country without, a priori, squeaking. Or not to everyone, because the voices that consider that recess occupation should be more equal, without the predominance of activities in which men –and leaders– participate in a majority way.

The last one has been the Generalitat, which is preparing a guide to redefine the traditional use of the patio as something more than a sports court where to play the ball. An approach not without controversy that has led us to reflect on what kind of recess it benefits more to the coexistence and the development of the childhood.

The one who was Councilor for Education in Barcelona between 1999 and 2006, Marina Subirats, those years were dedicated to analyzing what happens in the patios de los coles with boys and girls. “I visited almost all the schools and we realized that patios and gardens where free play was played had been replaced by sports courts & rdquor ;, explains the sociologist.

Play in the yard is curriculum

“I am not against sport Far from it, but the fact that almost all other play spaces have been eliminated has negative consequences. Gambling is not just for fun, it is a way of learning & rdquor;, Add. Subirarts is the coverura of the book ‘Balls out’, where he analyzes the power relations, a priori invisible, that are governed by the use of these spaces.

Sandra Molines, Doctor in Psychology and professor at Florida Universitària, in Valencia, thinks the same. In the Valencian Community they are trying to encourage educational centers to make a diagnosis of these spaces. “The patio is also a curriculum. It is learned. Also about socialization & rdquor ;, assures. This is where “relationships are freer & rdquor ;.

The problem is that “Soccer is an activity where male socialization is far above female & rdquor ;. There are voices that consider that equality involves encouraging more girls to play this sport, especially now that the Barcelona Football Club player Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d’Or. But they do not think the same.

“Sometimes we think that equality is that girls also play soccer. But it is not about that, but that the patio can gather many proposals so that everyone has theirs contemplated & rdquor ;, Molines points out. The idea is to followr favoring symbolic games that yes they are had in infantile education for the psychomotor development, but also the music or the plastic one. Or why not tennis or skating.

“If football is the extracurricular activity that works the most in personal hours, the proposal made by the school reproduces what already exists in society, it does not reward anything. It is not about prohibiting, but about diagnosing and analyzing with a trained eye to see gender differences and, from there, propose changes and suggestions & rdquor ;, he adds. SAccording to him, there are 8% of the students occupying 60% of the space. Other sources speak of 70%, so those who do not play soccer must resign themselves to being in the corners or watching from the stands.

Going for three spaces in a patio

Molines explains that teachers trained in coeducation have already realized this. Some schools are proposing a change so that the patios are more inclusive, in which families and students also participate. There are already teams of architects who are specializing in it. In this way, they have come up with a “very convenient & rdquor; for the experts.

There would be three spaces, more or less equivalent. One is of motion, in which there may be sports courts to play movement games, such as rope or skating or snowshoeing activities, or peripheral tracks where they can run or walk. That is to say: move beyond football.

Another space is for quiet play, in which they can be with their wrists without being afraid of being hit by the ball. And a third would be green, with plants and trees. The latter, Subirats points out, is perfect for the little ones to know how nature works and learn about responsibility. “Where there are natural areas, there is a better coexistence than where there is none & rdquor ;, adds Molines. In a garden there are no gender differences.

The change moves in Barcelona

In Barcelona there are several schools that have already transformed the courtyards so that not everything revolves around the ball. Jordi Sans eHe is the father of two schoolchildren from one of those schools. Yours is in the Gràcia district. The school of his daughters assumed that debate long ago. The patio wasn’t very big, so the layout of its space was important. “At first it was a bit weird. Very established dynamics were broken so they had to relearn & rdquor ;, Explain. And of course, figure out what to play.

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But the ‘experiment’ went “very well”. “It has opened up new ways of organizing amongst themselves and mixing groups & rdquor ;, he continues. “The big trap is that it is proposed as a ban on football and has nothing to do with it. It is as if for being studying mathematics they said that it is forbidden to do science or Catalan. The only thing that is being done here is giving the option to play many more things; move from monoculture to many other activities that have never tried & rdquor ;, he assures. That and, “Without a doubt, lower conflict”. They have also achieved that.

* To carry out this report, EL PERIÓDICO has tried unsuccessfully to contact the Catalan Football Federation.