LaLiga Ambassador & Real Sociedad legend Ms Aintzane Encinas is in town for the very first time. Despite a long 15 hours flight, Encinas sits down with Junpiter Futbol for a chat immediately an hour after touching down. The fatigue on her is obvious but the former striker shows her true professionalism.
The 1.62m tall lady who grew up in the northern Spain, San Sebastian registered near 400 matches during her 13 years footballing career. So what is her secret of always being able to perform her best at the highest level at all times? Encinas responded almost immediately:
“Passion. Without passion for the game, you will not be able to last that long. And because of passion for the game, you will always want to outdo yourself and give your best shot, in every game.”
Indeed, the passion which Encinas has for football started as early as her school days. Encinas’ brother only played basketball hence she had to join the rest of her male schoolmates in school for the kick. Ironically, that probably presented her with the opportunity to hone her skills.
However, when asked about who did she look up to when she was young, the answer given was not a female footballer whom we were expecting it to be.
“During my younger days, I looked up to Gaizka Mendieta! He too came from Basque Country just like me and I really liked the way he played his football. You may be surprised to hear that I did not mention a female footballer’s name but you know in my time, there wasn’t any female footballer whom we could look up too! Basically, there was no reference at all. Unlike these days, more and more female are playing football. You can say your idol is Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd just to name a few. Now, a little girl can dream to be a footballer, “ said Encinas.
Speaking about Gaizka Mendieta, coincidentally he is also one of the Ambassadors in the LaLiga family too. As a fellow Ambassador, the shy Encinas has never shared this story with Mendieta ever before! (We hope Mendieta will get to read this) However, for sure Encinas can share one thing – her footballing background, with all LaLiga fans.
“As a LaLiga Ambassador, I really hope that I can share a lot of LaLiga football as well as my own footballing experience with all LaLiga fans. Women’s football has come this far and all of us have worked extremely hard for the past decade or more. I really hope that our football story can inspire many and more people will be able to pay more attention to women’s football too!” commented Encinas.
Encinas will be observing and conducting a football clinic for Singapore Women’s U-15 & U-12 on 19 April 2019 and 20 April 2019 respectively. She will also be doing some sharing at JSSL Coaching Convention on 18 April 2019.
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