Barcelona's basketball
club with
the most female
federated players.
250 federated players. #1 of 55 clubs in Barcelona. TOP 12 in Catalonia. 1 in every 15 female basketball players in the city trains at CB Grup Barna. Without an LF2 team in Barcelona, without nearby role models, without institutional funding directed at women's basketball — and yet, here, in El Clot, basketball has been for everyone for 60 years.
The number 1 club
for women's basketball in Barcelona.
This is not a branding claim. It is the result of comparing official IDESCAT 2025 data and the census of Barcelona city clubs (Xavier Boix, 2024) with CB Grup Barna's federated players for the 2024-2025 season.
6.61% is not small.
It is the leader's share.
In a fragmented market with 55 basketball clubs in Barcelona city, leading with 6.61% is the normal result of a leader in a highly dispersed sector. It is the same logic that governs leadership in fragmented markets: the leader does not accumulate the majority, but a disproportionate share of the total.
- 1 in 15 female basketball players in Barcelona city trains at CB Grup Barna
- 3.6 times the size of the average club in Barcelona (62 players per club)
- TOP 3% of clubs in Catalonia — the "Champions League" of Catalan women's basketball
- The only club in Barcelona city with a senior women's team in LF2 (national league)
4.1× the average of clubs in Catalonia
Official sources
- IDESCAT · Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya · 2025 · 411 clubs · 25,215 female licences · source
- Xavier Boix · Els clubs TOP de Barcelona · February 2024 · census of 49-55 clubs in BCN city · source
- Internal CB Grup Barna data · 2024-2025 season · 250 federated female players
- Full report in Excel · download (.xlsx)
“We are not the club with the biggest budget. We are not the club with the most sponsors. We are Barcelona's number 1 club in federated female players. And, with official data, that is not an opinion. It is a verifiable fact.”
CB Grup Barna · Market position report · 2025A system that was not
designed for them.
Barcelona is Spain's second city. It has 1.6 million inhabitants, 134 women's youth basketball teams and one of the most extensive youth systems in Europe. And yet, its conversion rate of female talent to national categories is 0.75%.
“The gender gap in sport is not a talent deficit. It is a failure in the architectural design of the system.”
CB Grup Barna · Structural Research on the Gender Gap · 202660 years in El Clot. A neighbourhood. A model.
CB Grup Barna was founded in 1965 in the El Clot neighbourhood, in the Sant Martí District of Barcelona. Joan Manuel Serrat, a local resident, was one of the entity's co-founders.
Today: 450+ members, 40 teams (20 women's + 20 men's, 1:1 parity), 38 active coaches (65.5% of technical staff), among the top 20 clubs in Catalonia.
From El Clot to the elite:
the legacy of a neighbourhood.
If we talk about Barcelona as the capital of basketball, we cannot forget that CB Grup Barna's youth system has produced players who have reached the elite of Catalan, Spanish and European basketball. Cesar Bravo, Roger Grimau, Iván García, Marta Vicente, Dolors Carbonell — and, at its origins, even two universally known Barcelona singers.
“When we say we are a neighbourhood club, we don't mean a small club. We mean a club that has brought the children of El Clot into professional basketball for 60 years. Our legacy is already on the front line of Spanish basketball.”
CB Grup Barna · Historical record · 1965-2026A system. Not a campaign.
CB Grup Barna allocates 50% of its budget to women's basketball. The sector average is 35%. Investment creates a level. The level creates role models. Role models create demand.
38 active coaches — 65.5% of the technical staff. No federation certification. As far as the FCBQ is concerned, they do not exist. Yet they coach 40 teams every week in El Clot.
53.7% of the social media audience is female. With no planned campaign. Women detect that the club practises equality instead of talking about it.
The biggest city has
the lowest conversion.
| Territory | Population | Conversion rate |
|---|---|---|
| La Seu d'Urgell | 12,000 | 12.5% |
| Mataró | 130,000 | 4% |
| Barcelona | 1,600,000 | 0.75% |
Causes: 0 LF2 teams in Barcelona · 21:30 time slots for women's basketball · talent drain to Cornellà and Mataró · 100% male presidents · FC Barcelona's shadow effect.
Street basketball.
Community. Inclusion.
Three consecutive editions. ~1,900,000 potential impressions via influencers. 67,028 combined followers of the organisers. 20,000 people exposed at the shopping centre. Street basketball has found its home in the centre of Barcelona.
2026 edition: New EQUALS category (players with functional diversity share the court with players without disabilities) + expanded women's category with the notable participation of Ari Geli (1M followers).
The 5 Theories of the Barna Method
Why this candidacy.
A basketball club, not an exception
This candidacy is not presented from a place of singularity or exceptionality. It is presented from a sober, measurable claim: 250 federated players play at CB Grup Barna, more than at any other basketball club in Barcelona city. The comparison is strict: only against other basketball clubs, because basketball has its own structural dynamics that cannot be equated with other sports.
What this means for Barcelona
If the biggest club has 250 players and the city average is 54, it means that Barcelona's female talent is fragmented across small clubs, without building the critical mass needed for a competitive structure at the highest level. This is one of the factors explaining why Barcelona has no women's team in LF2. Fragmentation is the problem. Concentrating talent in projects like CB Grup Barna is part of the solution.
What already works here
What CB Grup Barna demonstrates every week at Parc del Clot is that parity is not an aspiration: it is an established practice. 20 women's teams. 20 men's teams. 38 active coaches. 65.5% female technical staff. 50% of the budget for women's basketball. And, above all, real formative continuity, from age 5 through to seniors, where no girl from the neighbourhood is left without a place to play.
Why recognition matters
The 19th Women and Sport Award is, for us, a lever: to make a working model visible, so other Barcelona clubs can replicate it, so institutions reinforce it, and so the girls of the neighbourhood know their club has been recognised as a civic role model. We are not asking for a lifetime-achievement award. We are asking for our track record to stop being an exception.
“Equality in sport is not legislated. It is built, from the ground up, from a neighbourhood. And sometimes, when it works, all it takes is for someone to show it.”
CB Grup Barna · El Clot · Barcelona · 1965-2026A candidacy
with history.
This is not a new candidacy. Last year, CB Grup Barna was among the top three proposals for the Women and Sport Award. That recognition was not a destination; it was a starting point. This year we return with more data, more evidence, more proposals — and a clear horizon through to 2030.
- 34 federated teams
- 400 players
- 45% women's teams
- 1st BCN club with a senior women's team in LF2
- 1 Basketball School
- 1 Barna Màgics (special education)
- Pioneering Westfield Glòries agreement · May 2024
- Consolidated alliance with Time Chamber
- 5 heavyweight testimonials from the sports sector
- 40 teams federated (+6)
- 450+ members and families (+50)
- 50% real parity 20F/20M (+5pp)
- 250 female players · #1 of 55 BCN clubs
- TOP 12 in Catalonia · 411 clubs analysed
- 38 active coaches · 65.5% of staff
- 50% of budget directed to women's basketball
- 53.7% organic IG audience
- 7 investigations documented
- Barna Method · 5 academic theories
- Visit from Mayor Collboni · 9 Feb 2026
- 3x3 Westfield Glòries · 2.4M impressions
- Barna 8M Fund · proposal to the FCBQ
- LF2 Barcelona Plan · 1st team in the city
- El Clot Technical Development Centre · 2027
- BCN Women's League · 2027
- "Barcelona Talent" Programme · 2026
- Civic Pact for Women's Basketball · 2026
- 100 active coaches · BCN 2030
- Female talent conversion: 0.75% → 5%+
- Ambition of the candidacy: to go beyond the TOP 3
“Last year's TOP 3 was not a trophy — it was a mandate. If the sector recognised what we were doing, we had to do it better. This candidacy is proof that we took that recognition seriously.”
CB Grup Barna · Record of candidacies · 2025-2026Recognition
from the sports sector.
This is not something we say ourselves. Five heavyweight figures from Catalan and Spanish professional basketball have put in writing what they think of CB Grup Barna. Their voices, side by side, are the best summary of what we represent.
«Working with CB Grup Barna is a privilege. Their way of understanding sport as an educational tool for social transformation is admirable. Especially in the fight for women's basketball, where the club does an incredible job giving visibility and opportunities to players.»
Leading basketball academy in Europe
«Their commitment to women's basketball is exceptional and admirable. It is a club that understands sport as a powerful tool for personal and social transformation, and that works every day to create opportunities for girls. We are proud to share values and common goals with them.»
National school competition
«CB Grup Barna is a benchmark for women's basketball in Barcelona. Always working to promote women's sport at the highest level in the city, with a firm commitment to giving players opportunities and visibility. The club is a model to follow in promoting inclusive, high-quality basketball.»
Head coach at @sese_basquet
«CB Grup Barna is a club that handles women's basketball very well, both in the personal development of each player and in her participation in all the club's activities. It is a benchmark in women's sport in Barcelona and an institution committed to the development of sport at every level.»
Director of Gràcia Multiesports
«I am very proud and happy that my family is part of a club that has historically fought for and empowered women in every area through sport. CB Grup Barna stands out not only for its commitment to women's basketball, but also for its work in creating an inclusive and equal environment. It is an honour to see the club continue to advance this important mission.»
Spanish women's national team selector
“This candidacy is not a request. It is an outside reading of who we already are. Five professionals from Catalan and Spanish women's basketball say it in their own words: we are a benchmark.”
CB Grup Barna · Collected testimonials · 2025Barcelona,
capital of women's basketball.
Recognising a crisis is the first step to solving it. Women's basketball in Barcelona is going through a diagnosed structural crisis. But Barcelona also has all the assets needed to become the benchmark for women's basketball in Catalonia and southern Europe: 134 women's youth teams, a network of clubs with history, proximity to FC Barcelona, Joventut and Granollers, and a new generation that no longer accepts the status quo.
Below are 6 concrete proposals with a 2030 horizon. Some CB Grup Barna can lead alone. Others require an alliance with clubs, institutions and sponsors. All are necessary.
- × 0 LF2 teams in Barcelona city
- × 0.75% female talent conversion
- × 100% male club presidents
- × Talent fragmented across small clubs
- × 38 coaches at just 1 club
- × No city-wide women's competition
- → 1 LF2 team in the city by 2030
- → 5%+ female talent conversion
- → Real parity on governing boards
- → Technical development centre in El Clot
- → 100+ coaches in the BCN network
- → Annual BCN Women's League
LF2 Barcelona 2030 Plan
The first Barcelona player with her own team playing Liga Femenina 2 in Barcelona city. A strategic alliance among Barcelona clubs with competitive women's sections. Roadmap: 2026-27 selection of allied clubs · 2028 joint competitive structure · 2030 first BCN team in LF2.
El Clot Women's
Technical Development Centre
Stop the drain of talent to Cornellà and Mataró. A centre in Parc del Clot where the best players from all of Barcelona city's clubs can train 4 days a week without having to travel. Initial capacity: 60 players. Sustained through an agreement with the IBE and partner clubs.
BCN Women's League
A competition so that talent can meet. Summer league and winter tournaments with all of Barcelona city's women's clubs. Broadcasts, individual awards, media visibility and a media partner. A format inspired by the already successful 3x3 Westfield Glòries, but at city scale.
"Barcelona Talent" Programme
Identify talent before it leaves. An early identification programme in the city's schools and clubs with scholarships that allow players to combine studies and a sporting career without having to leave Barcelona. Goal: raise conversion from 0.75% to 3% within 5 years.
Civic Pact for
Women's Basketball
An agreement signed by Barcelona City Council, the IBE, the FCBQ, the 17 clubs with women's sections and major sponsors. Dedicated budget. Venues in prime-time slots for women's basketball (not at 21:30). Institutional visibility. Measurable commitments, audited annually.
100 Coaches 2030
Multiply the technical pipeline. A training, mentoring and certification programme to reach 100+ active coaches in Barcelona city by 2030. CB Grup Barna as the leading training club, in partnership with the FCBQ and its Coach Mentoring programme. Eradicate the 9% figure for women in advanced coaching qualifications.
We are not asking Barcelona to stop being what it is. We are asking Barcelona to also be what it can be: a city where any girl can play basketball, train, reach the elite and return — without ever having to leave.
