"Playing with one arm is the most normal thing in the world"

Hospitalet de LlobregatÀngel Miralles is the kicker for the Pioneros de Hospitalet, a team that competes in the LNFA, the highest state category of American football. His statistics are extraordinary. He has scored all eight goals in the league. Extra points who has tried and only failed once field gold. The peculiarity is that he is missing an arm from birth. "I was born like that and I have been adapting very naturally. I don't notice anything different, I see myself as just another player. At first, perhaps it surprised the fans, especially those from the other conference, but now most teams already know me," he explains to ARA.

"People see it as a story of overcoming, but for me playing American football with one arm is the most normal thing in the world," he says. Although he has only been playing for three years, his adaptation has been very fast. "I started playing football, but in 2019 I stopped. My brother signed up for an American football team and, since I knew that he kicked hard, I asked him if they needed a kicker. I went to do a tryout and I liked it," says Miralles, who studies computer systems administration. After two seasons with the Barcelona Pagesos, he signed for the Pioneros de L'Hospitalet.

"When I was a kid I watched some football games, but I didn't even know you could play here," said Miralles, who spent a summer training with the Dragons. The Pioneers are in third place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 2 wins and 4 losses. "The season is not going the way we wanted and we have very little chance of playing the games." play-off"It should be a miracle. We have had many adversities and it is a difficult year. We want to win the two games we have left and finish with a balanced record. Another objective we set ourselves is to try to finish a game at zero because we always tend to give away points," he sums up.

The L'Hospitalet Pioneers train three days a week. Each session lasts about two hours. "My position is very specific and my training is different during many phases. During matches, you have to try to be ready for when it's your turn to shoot, both physically and mentally. We have a net to warm up, but you have to be very focused. You can't go out on the field with a cold leg," he confesses.

"The media doesn't pay attention to us"

American football has around 1,800 licences in Catalonia, but its following has not yet taken off. Promoters hope to take advantage of the boost that will come from the fact that Flag Football will be an Olympic sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. "The following is less than in other European countries and the teams are smaller, they have fewer players," admits Miralles, who has become fond of watching more games since he started watching them.

"Television de L'Hospitalet provides good coverage, but the big media don't pay much attention to us. TV3 stopped broadcasting the Dragons. Sometimes they prioritize doing the cycling tour of Switzerland over covering the career of a Barcelona team. It's difficult," he says without a grain of salt.