On May 15, 2018, Carmen Fernández Díaz, captain of the Real Oviedo Women’s team, began preparations for the second leg of the promotion playoffs against EDF Logroño. The prize, going back to the first league, La Liga Iberdrola.
However, after an 8-hour bus ride from La Rioja, and spending hours in the bus studying, the center back cannot fully concentrate on the game. Fernández is in her third year of the six for a degree in medicine at Universidad de Oviedo, so every day she has to divide her time between the soccer field, and her bedroom desk.
“During those first years in college, I spent every morning in class and studying before I would go back home, study until it was time to go to practice, and then study again after the session for a couple of hours.” Fernández said.
As tough as this hussle looked, it was not that hard for the Real Oviedo defender. She had a love for soccer that made her not want to quit, and when she needed a break, she missed the sport so much she had to come back in any possible way.
But another important aspect was that she always knew that education was instrumental in her life. When the degree made it harder to continue playing, Fernández stepped away from the field and focused on medicine.
“My first priority has always been getting my degree in medicine.” Fernández said. “Even if I could make as much money as the men’s squad, I’ve always put studies first.”
That was a priority she has always lived by, and after graduating, Fernández went through the next process the Spanish system has before you can become a doctor: the MIR exam. After that test, you can choose a destination, and specialty, depending on your grade. The future for her is a little uncertain, as she might have to leave Oviedo, thus leaving her current team: Real Oviedo B.
Even though she once was the captain of the first team, she’s now in a much different role. She came back to soccer, but to the B team in Real Oviedo, where she could enjoy a little more freedom to focus on the MIR exam. Her agreements with the coach meant that whenever she needed to miss practice to study, she would.
For the center back, this has been a great decision.
“I initially said I could only go to two or three practices a week,” Fernández said, “that was never a problem with the club. But I am very happy with my decision. This is a very young team, so most of them know me from when I used to play in the first team, and my relationship with them is like being the mom of the group, someone who can teach them.”
That leadership role, now as a veteran, is not a new position for Fernández. She has always been key in her teams, and became the captain of Real Oviedo (Oviedo Moderno in the beginning as a women’s club) in the first and second divisions.
“I’d dare to say she was the best captain I’ve ever played with.” María Iglesias, former teammate said. “Even though she might not have had a role in which she had to expose herself a lot, she was always worried about the team and each individual player. Not only that, but she gave us a lot of confidence in the back, she was a really easy defender to play alongside.”
What can be seen as impressive about her leadership on defense is that she did not only exhibit it in the women’s team, but also when she was the only girl in an all-boys team.
Fernández fell in love with soccer at a very young age. She used to accompany her parents to watch a friend play, and when she saw a banner asking children to join the team, she wanted to try.
At seven years old, she enrolled at Vallobín, the soccer team of her neighborhood, and she went on to play with this boy’s team until she was 15.
“She was spectacular,” Rodrigo Centeno, one of the boys in those initial years at Vallobín, said. “Until we made the U14 team, she was the best in the team, and she was the captain even though she was one year younger than most of us. She was a fighter, very fast, and had a great aerial game. Watching her contributed to equality, because she was the best in a boys’ team.”
In a sport often so identified with men, rudeness and even sometimes violence, having a girl on their squad was never a problem, and Fernández felt happy and fortunate to be in that situation.
“I was extremely lucky with the teammates I had,” Fernández said. “I didn’t have any problems with any of the boys. Given that I was in that environment from when I was seven, until I was 15, for me it was never weird to be surrounded by boys, but when you start growing up and seeing how other people react, you start to realize that people find it rare. My teammates, coaches and even parents’ teammates always supported me, so I have really happy memories of playing in a boys’ squad.”
Another important aspect of being in that team, was, in fact, the physical differences.
“I think women’s soccer has progressed a lot in the past few years,” Fernández said, “but back then, when I switched from boys to girls, I could really tell the difference, in the style of play, the tackles, the challenges … I tended to be more physical than my rivals.”
That experience is something she relishes: “My advice to other girls playing with boys was to keep playing with them until they are not allowed anymore.”
After that change, the Oviedo Moderno defender enjoyed a great privilege: being selected to the U17 Spanish National Team after an injury from another player. She was even set to attend the U17 World Cup at Costa Rica, but in her last practice before her trip, she also injured herself, and could not join the team that won the silver medal.
Now, the main difference between men’s and women’s soccer is economic. For instance, the minimum wage for a men’s player in the same club and league (Real Oviedo, in second division) is around €5,000, while the most Carmen Fernández made as captain was €300.
Usually, the main argument is that women do not generate as much money as men, and that’s why they cannot make as much. But that argument is outdated, and needs a revision.
“What I say is, if you don’t support us, we won’t be able to generate that much money,” Fernández said. “We work as much as the men, many players invest their life in this, and don’t receive compensation. We need leagues and clubs to make an effort to find better sponsorship deals, TV deals … That’s how we’re going to generate revenue”
Women’s soccer has really grown in Spain, and in part, it’s been because some famous clubs, like Real Madrid, started a women’s team. That also happened to her former club Oviedo Moderno, which became Real Oviedo Women’s in 2017.
“I think it’s very positive that most men’s clubs now have women’s teams, because they give us the exposure we need, but there’s still a lot of work ahead.” Fernández said.
Nowadays, Fernández is still waiting for her fate to be decided. What is obvious is that her path to become not only a great soccer player and captain, but also an almost doctor, has not been easy.