Marta Puig received the EuroHockey Diploma of Merit last Sunday in Barcelona following her tireless work to champion Hockey ID – known locally as Hockey+ – in Spain.
EuroHockey Honorary Life President Marijke Fleuren presented the award to Puig in front of a packed Domino Room at Real Club de Polo with many players and officials in situ to pay tribute to her.
Fleuren hailed her incredible passion and dedication for the Hockey+ project and saying the title was indicative of the essence of her work.
“When you call it Hockey+, you already see you are giving something extra,” Fleuren said. “You are not focusing on some kind of disability or impairment but on what addition you are creating and that is what makes Marta so special.
“Her enthusiasm and work have been vital to incorporate players in the sports structure in clubs and federations.
“Her collaboration with other people has made it posible that Hockey+ and G-Hockey holds a key place in Catalonia, Spain and Europe, while at the same time, Marta has been involved in projects and commissions at national and continental level.”
Following the presentation, she received an extended standing ovation with many tears shed.
Hockey+ began in the Hockey Section of FC Barcelona in 2007 with Marta working for FUPAR, an organisation working with disabled people and linked with Club Egara where she has strong links.
Her husband and her cousins from the Salvatella family initiated training sessions with Egara members and because of her enthusiasm and capacity, she offered to collaborate and to coordinate a larger project.
This flourished with visits to further Catalán clubs who took on the project and started to have regular matches between different teams.
In conjunction with sponsorship from BBVA, it allowed the first official Hockey ID league to begin in 2016, a real milestone.
Describing her mission previously in own words, Marta said: “We want to achieve equality with this project, giving players a role as people by themselves through their relationship established with other club members, players, families, coaches.
“Those relations change their own prejudices and they see the participants as athletes and equals.
“A team sport basically transfers those values for those who play the game. To play Hockey normalises their personal relations without considering the physical or mental conditions.
“These players show values of sacrifice, fair play and effort as any other hockey player.”
** Marta is pictured with her Diploma of Merit along with EuroHockey Honorary Life President Marijke Fleuren at Real Club de Polo.
