STORY OF THE SEASON - SPAIN: Things couldn’t get much better for Rocasia Gran Canaria, who not only claimed their second Women’s Challenge Cup trophy but were also crowned champions of Spain for the first time
Gran Canaria take Spanish crown after European success
The Liga Guerreras Iberdrola is yellow for very first time: Rocasa Gran Canaria have won the domestic championship for the first time in the club’s history.
The long-awaited success has come in the same season where Gran Canaria triumphed in the Women’s Challenge Cup for the second time, after their earlier triumph in 2016.
Gran Canaria won 22 of their 26 league matches. In the final standings they were four points ahead of title defenders Super Amara Bera Bera. Gran Canaria lost both encounters against Bera Bera (36:25 at home in October, 32:25 away in March) but were the more consistent team throughout the season. Bera Bera, which scored 68 goals more and conceded four goals less than Gran Canaria, had won the title in five of the last six seasons.
Apart from getting a first-time champion, the Spanish league had a remarkable season for another reason: for the first time since 2003/04 three of the teams were led by female head coaches: Susana Pareja (Canyamelar Valencia), Montse Puche (BM Castellón) and Cristina Cabeza (Helvetia Alcobendas).
“It’s important there have been three of us and I hope this can be an inflexion point for the future. I hope this isn’t the exception anymore in some years,” says Cabeza.
Granollers’ Judith Vizuete was the best scorer of the league with 179 goals. And while Bera Bera won their sixth Queen’s Cup, Gran Canaria had lifted the Cup Winner’s Cup at the beginning of the season.
TEXT:
Laia Coll / ew