Ainhoa: ‘I thought I would take it worse’

Ainhoa Tirapu is far from the pitch, her natural habitat, but the confinement forced by the coronavirus crisis does not take the smile off the goalkeeper. ‘Honestly, I thought I was going to take it badly, and I’m doing quite well. I’m getting worse and worse about going out, because when you’ve been indoors for a long time, you know there’s a virus out there and you’re kind of worried when you go shopping alone. The day we get back on the street, it’s going to be weird. I’m well organized, I’m entertained. I talk more with my family than before, I’ve rediscovered reading and I’m happy with what I’m doing; I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time,’ explains the player from Navarre.

The first ladies team do train six days a week at 12:00 noon online. An idea suggested by the physical trainer, Javier Aguado , something that according to Ainhoa , makes the indoor sessions more enjoyable: ‘It’s much better when we train all together. When you are a team player, training alone is very hard.  In this way we are all together and we keep up the good feeling and it is much easier for us’.

In her case, being a goalkeeper, she tries not to lose the handball contact and recognizes that she is practicing handball on her walls during this confinement from which she hopes ‘we can all draw conclusions’. The captain of Athletic Club remembers NOW with nostalgia how great the last League championship achieved in the 2015/16 tasted and also reviews her hobbies on match days, her best moments as a football player..

With the uncertainty of the current moment, the red-and-white ‘is looking forward to competing again’ and is proud to have taken an active part in achieving an agreement for women’s football that will protect the players way better.