Gabriela Borel Delarmelina: "I hope my research contributes to broadening knowledge on athletic transitions and helps clubs in female players' career development"

The Sports Research Institute (IRE-UAB) welcomes Gabriela Borel Delarmelina, a researcher from the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (Brazil). Over the next five months, she will be part of the Sports Psychology Research Group (GEPE) to carry out her research under the supervision of Miquel Torregrossa. In this interview, she shares her lifelong passion for football, details of her study on the development and professionalization of Brazilian female players, and her reasons for choosing UAB for her research stay.

1. First of all, please introduce yourself. Where are you from and what are you doing here?

My name is Gabriela Borel Delarmelina, I am 29 years old and I am from Brazil. I come from the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, I live in Vitória, and I am here for a research stay of a few months.

2. Why did you choose to come here to Barcelona, to UAB?

First of all, I love UAB, and I was very excited about the prospect of working with Professor Miquel Torregrossa. When I had the opportunity to join GEPE, an internationally consolidated research group with great recognition in career transition studies, it made complete sense for me. I love Barcelona so much, being here was always a dream of mine, and I really enjoy Catalan culture, so combining both aspects was fantastic.

3. Is this interest in women's football a personal motivation? Have you played football yourself?

Yes, absolutely. I've had a passion for football since childhood; it has always driven me. Later, when I started studying and working as a researcher, football became my central topic. Furthermore, given the specific context and current changes in Brazil, research on women's football is urgently needed.

4. What are your main goals and what is your research about?

I am studying the transition of female players from junior to senior levels. I am here to deepen my theoretical framework and analysis with Miquel, exchanging knowledge on career development and transitions. I believe GEPE is the best place I could be, and he has extensive expertise to contribute to my work. The study focuses on a specific case in Brazil, within a context of major transformations in the professionalization of women's football. My goal is to understand how the conditions provided by clubs influence female players' transition from youth categories to professional football.

5. What is this context currently like in Brazil compared to here?

They are similar contexts with specific differences. Here in Spain, professionalization has been accompanied by movements from clubs and trade unions. For us in Brazil, it is different. They started with a licensing rule for men's clubs: if they want to play in the Copa Libertadores or Sudamericana, they must have a women's team and at least one women's youth team, either their own or through agreements with other clubs, competing in official tournaments.

6. What impact do you think your thesis could have for players and clubs?

My intention is for the thesis to contribute to broadening knowledge about career transitions and to help clubs develop young female players and professional teams. If we provide solid training, we get stronger teams and players who can build a life project around football. I aim to support clubs, players, and organizations with a holistic view of the sports landscape.

7. How long will you stay here and how is your work progressing?

I am staying for five months, until February. I started just a short while ago, about two weeks, but we are already working together on a specific paper and I feel very good about it. My theoretical framework focuses on transition environments, working with key authors such as Henriksen, Wylleman, and Stambulova, who are fundamental to my research.