The red-and-white team, made up of representatives from Athletic Walking Football for cancer patients, enjoyed an international tournament in which they left their distinctive mark: the joy of life, ‘bizipoza’
The Athletic Club Walking Football team that took part this past weekend in the international tournament organised by Hamburg SV was a very special side. Unlike the other teams, our squad was made up of people who have beaten cancer or are living with the disease on a long-term basis. As well as Athletic, the red-and-white delegation represented the more than 40 people who train weekly at Lezama, as part of a project promoted by the Athletic Club Foundation and the Bizkaia Cancer Association.
Right from the start of the trip, Athletic Club Walking Football made its mark, giving meaning to an initiative whose fundamental aim is to improve the lives of people undergoing cancer treatment. Thus, as was the case in Hamburg, football and Athletic Club go hand in hand as tools for physical, emotional and social wellbeing, helping to lessen the impact of cancer and improve people’s quality of life.
Fair Play and ‘Bizipoza’ Trophies
In Hamburg, Athletic Club Walking Football faced off against the likes of Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund, Slavia Prague, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Hertha BSC Berlin, Werder Bremen and the host team themselves, HSV. But the results were the least of their concerns. What mattered, as Edin Terzić reminded them before they set off from Lezama, was to enjoy the experience and represent Athletic’s values. Winning the Fair Play trophy proves that they achieved both with flying colours. As a prize, they received a Hamburg shirt bearing the words: “To the team that played the fairest”.
A phrase that could have been completed as follows: “To the team with the most fair play and joy”. Because the joy of life, ‘bizipoza’, as we say in Basque, is another of the defining characteristics of this Athletic Walking Football team.
Because football is everything, even when not everything is football.
Functional diversity
