Ona Carbonell leads the Mother & Footballer talk on motherhood and elite sport
BCN Sports Film Festival has lived today, Sunday 1 March, a day featuring two sessions that connect cinema and conversation. The main highlight took place at Cinemes Girona with the screening of Mother & Footballer and the post-screening talk with Ona Carbonell, President of the Motherhood & Sport Commission of the Spanish Olympic Committee, alongside Francesc Terrón, Director of the Barcelona Olympic Foundation (Fundació Barcelona Olímpica).
Cinemes Girona | Mother & Footballer: a much-needed look at motherhood in professional football
The session focused on a reality that is still not widely visible in elite sport: what happens when motherhood becomes part of a professional career shaped by demands, tight calendars, public exposure and job uncertainty. The documentary offers a collective portrait that invites reflection on work–life balance, rights, real support systems and the often invisible obstacles many athletes face in order to keep competing.
Parallel activity | Motherhood on and off the pitch: naming the challenges
After the screening, the talk expanded the discussion through lived experience and an institutional lens, addressing topics such as the pressure to return, the physical and emotional management of the process, the lack of role models, the role of clubs and organisations in protecting athletes, and the need to ensure motherhood does not become an endpoint in a sporting career.
Ona Carbonell and Francesc Terrón highlighted the importance of creating stable support spaces and policies that make it possible for motherhood and high performance to truly coexist.
Olympic Museum | “When Sport Inspires”: a family session to start the Sunday
Earlier in the day, the programme began at the Joan Antoni Samaranch Olympic and Sports Museum with the family session “When Sport Inspires”, designed to enjoy sport as a source of learning, emotion and shared values.
Check the programme and book your tickets on the festival website.
