Fundazioa brings Athletic closer to children in hospital
Fundazioa brings Athletic closer to children in hospital
As part of the Supertxapeldunak project, children admitted to Cruces Hospital were able to take their minds off their recovery for a while and played a friendly match with Mikel Jauregizar, Maddi Torre, Oihan Sancet, Elene Gurtubay and Álex Padilla
As every year, the Athletic Club Foundation, in collaboration with Osakidetza, has held a new edition of “Fútbol Pasillo”, an initiative that transforms the hospital corridors into a space for play and excitement. For a few hours, the hospital environment becomes a small makeshift pitch where the youngest children can enjoy football and escape, even if only momentarily, from the difficult process of hospitalisation.
With rag balls, adapted goals and, above all, a great desire to have fun, the youngest Athletic fans shared laughter, goals and camaraderie with their idols from the first teams Mikel Jauregizar, Maddi Torre, Oihan Sancet, Elene Gurtubay and Álex Padilla. After the match, the players visited the paediatric and oncology wards, where other children who were unable to take part in this edition are currently being treated. There, they offered words of encouragement, took photographs and handed out souvenirs, bringing a little more of the Zurigorri spirit into every room.
The ‘Supertxapeldunak’ project
“Fútbol Pasillo”, which was first launched in 2019, forms part of the Supertxapeldunak project, an initiative that aims to support children and their families during paediatric treatments and hospital stays in Bizkaia. This programme forms part of the collaboration between the Athletic Club Foundation, Osakidetza and the UEFA Foundation for Children, with the aim of improving the quality of life of hospitalised children through sport and the excitement of football.
Football is everything when not everything is football
When hospital life takes over, football offers a refuge, a shared language capable of bringing smiles, easing the wait and making day-to-day life more bearable. It’s not just about scoring goals, but about sharing moments, about feeling part of something bigger even in the most difficult circumstances. Athletic Club Fundazioa champions the power of football as a social and cultural tool, placing the people who form part of the red-and-white community at the centre. Because, as the Foundation’s new campaign proclaims, that is the true power of football. Or at least, of ours.