Carlos Alberto Fernandez |
A Coruña (EFE) days a week, the plates reconquer the patio.
The primary director, David García, a lover of this traditional game, proposed it, experimentally, to sixth grade students as an alternative for that leisure period between classes.
A subject that did not take long to captivate
In the classroom, the most absolute “ignorance” reigned about the plates, a subject that soon captivated them. More than half of the children cheered up. “In quotes, they have accepted to lose their breaks, they have accepted to lose time from playing soccer to dedicate it to the sheets,” the professor explained to EFE.
First, he informed them of the new proposal, the registration period opened, they dedicated a recreational session to decorate and build the plate teams, another to learn the basic rules of the game and the calendar was scheduled with half-hour matches.
“In life they had played, so they had to watch videos about the game, the regulations… They were super excited. They had to create their own material, look for the plates (ten players and, as a goalkeeper, a stopper), design the shirt, the shield, name the team… “, he recounts.
The school pavilion became the plate stadium. There they meet two days a week, those with a game, but there are also spectators. “The image shocks. About 20 fields with simultaneous games”, says the teacher.
“This game will consolidate in the coming years”
The game is not advanced if there is no agreement between the contenders. “The VAR (video arbitration in LaLiga) is themselves,” says David García, who is sure that this game will consolidate in the coming years. They intend to open it to more courses and will also bet on other traditional games.
“The plates have many good things. Little by little we are seeing that in today’s society, the game in the street and on a day-to-day basis, for the sheer pleasure of enjoying the company, is giving way to games related to new technologies”, says the professor.
Buttons demand cooperation, creativity and strategy. They are accessible and inclusive, an activity that boys and girls sign up for and in which those who require special education also participate.
The game has its own Spanish Federation. Its president, Juan Carlos Pendolero, welcomes the initiative of the A Coruña school with open arms.
Helps to relate outside the “maquinitas”
“It is a satisfaction that they recover this traditional game that helps the students to interrelate well, outside the ‘maquinitas’, without differentiating between boys and girls,” he told EFE.
They have about 600 members and 28 clubs. “We started with the Federation in 2004 and we have been growing. As a result of our experience, others have been created in countries such as Portugal, Bolivia, Argentina, Senegal, Hungary or Brazil”, he points out.
The game is already “a little more professionalized” than when it was played on the ground: now it is at height, on a carpet, even with fences.
There are kits with the field and the material for two teams for 65 euros, but, as in school, materials that are on hand can be reused.
“You can start by asking for badges in a bar, using a chickpea as a ball, using shoe boxes as goals… It’s very cheap,” says Pendolero, who also manages an online store with the necessary material for this game.
There, sheets and technology do go hand in hand.