El Clot · Barcelona · Since 1965
Women's basketball for real, not as a campaign
CB Grup Barna puts 50% of its budget into women's basketball when the sector average is 35%. Eight federated teams, 38 women coaches and a path that runs from the Escoleta at age 4 all the way to the Liga Femenina Endesa. This is not a quota policy: it is how the club has been built since 1965.
The Barna Method
A system. Not a campaign.
Three pillars that work at the same time and reinforce one another. The club built them organically over six decades, and today they are the subject of academic study at UB-INEFC.
Equal investment
of the club's budget 50% of its budget goes to women's basketball. The sector average is 35%.
On €140,000-160,000 a year, that means €70,000-80,000 for the women's side. It does not take more money: it takes sharing out differently what is already there.
A leadership pathway
38 active women coaches, 65.5% of the coaching staff. They coach 38 teams every week in El Clot.
A player who becomes a coach — and who coaches boys' teams — changes how girls, boys and families see things more than any equality campaign.
The community's response
of the club's budget 53.7% of the audience the club has on social media are women. In youth basketball, digital audiences are usually 60-70% male.
Without a single targeted campaign. When a club practises equality instead of communicating it, the community that goes with it turns up on its own.
“We don't go looking for them. They find us.”
A summary of the third pillar of the Barna Method2026-27 season
Eight federated women's teams
From under-12 to senior, all in official Catalan Federation competition. Below that is the Escoleta, from age 4, and the Barna Màgics adapted sport team.
The path
From age 4 to the Liga Endesa
The Barna Method's Leadership Cycle: six stages that explain how a girl who joins the Escoleta can end up competing at elite level — or coaching from the bench.
- EscoletaAt 4 she joins the club and, from day one, sees women coaching.
- DevelopmentFederated competition at every age group: under-10, under-12, under-14 and under-16.
- CoachThe player joins the coaching staff. She coaches women's, mixed and men's teams.
- Copa CatalunyaThe senior side competes at regional level.
- Super Copa FCBQCompetitive excellence and a route towards the national leagues.
- Liga EndesaTalent reaches the elite. The example has a name: Ainhoa López.
Club ambassador
The Ainhoa Effect
Ainhoa López Rodríguez started playing here as a child. She came up through every age group, played international youth basketball and reached the Liga Femenina Endesa. An autoimmune illness stopped her when she was at her peak.
She came back to the neighbourhood to recover, and training with the club's players she returned to professional competition. Today she is CB Grup Barna's first official ambassador and a Cum Laude graduate of UB-INEFC.
“I came back to the neighbourhood to recover. And the neighbourhood gave me basketball back.”
It matters because the structural problem in Catalan women's basketball is not only about money: it is about role models close to home. Girls watch the WNBA on television, but they have nobody to look up to on their own street. Here, they do.
Strategic project
Women's Line: kit designed for them
Every season more than 200 girls, teenagers and women wear the club kit. And until now they were wearing clothing that had not been designed for them: shrunken men's sizes, shirts that are too long, waistbands that do not fit. The industry calls it «shrink it and pink it».
The differences are not about size, they are structural: hip-to-waist ratio, shoulder width, torso length, support, and the need for dark fabric so you can compete without fear of staining during your period. Feeling uncomfortable in the kit is documented as a direct factor in teenage dropout.
CB Grup Barna is preparing the first collection by a youth club in Catalonia designed from scratch for the female body: new patterns, functional materials and co-creation with the players, who try the prototypes and decide.
Official documentation
All of this is documented
The club's model is its entry for the 19th Premi Dona i Esport run by Institut Barcelona Esports, still to be decided. The entry's website is the official document: it is not copied here, it is linked.
Barna Knowledge
Why we do what we do
The club's women's project does not come from a hunch. These four articles explain the problem we found and what we did about it.
For families
Frequently asked questions
How many women's teams does CB Grup Barna have?
In the 2026-27 season the club has 8 women's teams in FCBQ league competition, from Infantil up to senior, plus the Escoleta groups and the Barna Màgics adapted-sport team. Senior Femení A plays in the Super Copa Femenina.
How much of the club's budget goes to women's basketball?
50% of the total budget. The sector average is 35%. It is the first of the three pillars of the Barna Method.
Can a girl start playing basketball with no experience?
Yes. The Escoleta takes girls and boys aged 4 to 8 with no previous experience at all, and you can join the development age groups at any point in the season if there is a place. The club keeps hardship bursaries so that no family is left out for financial reasons.
Who coaches the Grup Barna women's teams?
The club has 38 active female coaches, 65.5% of the coaching staff. Many are former players who came up through the club, and they coach women's, mixed and men's teams alike.
Where does CB Grup Barna women's basketball train?
At La Nau del Clot, C/ Llacuna 170-172, Parc del Clot, 08018 Barcelona, in the Sant Martí district.
Does CB Grup Barna have a women's basketball team?
Yes. Women's basketball is one of the club's two lines, with the same budget and the same priority as the men's: over 200 players in competition, from the Escoleta up to Senior A, which competes in the Super Copa Femenina FCBQ.
What is the Barna Method?
It's the club's own model for women's player development, built on in-house research into the gender gap in Barcelona and Catalan basketball. It has been a finalist for the Premi Dona i Esport award two years running.
At what age can a girl start playing basketball at Barna?
At 4 years old, in the Escoleta, in mixed groups. Federated women's competition starts at premini (age 8-9) and continues through to Senior.
What is the Premi Dona i Esport, and how is Barna involved?
It is an award for work towards equality in sport, and the Barna Method — the club's own model for women's player development, built on in-house research into the gender gap in Barcelona basketball — has been a finalist two years running.
El Clot · Barcelona
There is room for every one of them
Whether she wants to start at 4 or is looking to compete in the Super Copa, there is a place for her. And if your company wants to support the women's project, there is one for you too.