“Alianza Lima is a mirror for the rest of the clubs. I want to make history with the Municipal”

Like other women, Luccina Aparicio has managed to make her way in a sport governed by men. And she has done it from a court, but also from a television set. She is a reporter for the international network ESPN and previously worked at El Bocón, an emblematic newspaper for the sports press. Deportivo Municipal has just pulled it for its women’s team. She will be a technical assistant during the 2023 season. About this, we talked with her, an agent of change in sports.

—Soccer player, journalist and now an assistant in a technical command. How is football present in all stages of your life?

I have always liked soccer, from my mom’s tummy, she liked to watch soccer, more than my dad. I grew up with contemporary cousins ​​and they made soccer a part of my day to day. Well, we played “ball” with them when we lived at my paternal grandmother’s house. Today it is part of my reality, as a journalist, as a footballer and as a coach.

—What was the first great memory that football gave you?

Being able to see Ronaldo Nazario play, when he came to Peru in some qualifiers. The first of all, seeing my favorite player at that time, when he was 15 years old.

—How other women did you have to fight a lot in your environment to be able to play soccer?

Yes, of course, it was a constant struggle because I played with men and they always wanted me to cover, never to play and I knew how to play, but because I was a woman they didn’t give me a chance. Or the well-known phrase is never missing: “You are a little woman, don’t play soccer, that’s for men. You play barbies.” But I have always been firm in my decisions and nothing was going to change my passion for playing or watching football.

—Have you been able to infect your friends to play soccer? Let’s say you’ve been able to do that, that academics call it a change agent…

Of course, not only friends, but also family members, sisters, nieces, daughters of friends who say: “I want to play soccer like her”, all this generates me and makes me feel part of the growth of our women’s soccer, that barriers are broken that at some point all of my generation had to live and now they aspire to be great professionals. Nothing better than that.

—And how did the possibility of transmitting your passion through another profession such as journalism arise?

I began to follow the career of Claudio Pizarro, he seemed to me an extraordinary player, I admired him and still admire him to this day. I will always say that thanks to him, I wanted to get into sports journalism. Well, I watched all of his Bundesliga matches on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and when he came with the national team, I was present every time he came, I even made an album of him.

-What clubs have you played in?

I played in Kids Soccer Team, Independiente de Surco, Fuerza Cristal Association, Club El Bosque, Jockey Club, UCV and Rinconada CC.

“And in what position?”

Right midfielder, left or right winger and mixed midfielder.

“Let’s go to your new challenge.” Tell me how the idea of ​​integrating the technical command of Deportivo Municipal was born.

The truth is that last year I looked for an opportunity to join a club working in youth or development football. Female or male, in order to gain experience. I studied for this, I started with an intention, but it ended up changing my perspective and I really liked it. And that is how I received a call from Deportivo Municipal and I was clearly going to take this option.

—Is there a female quarry in the ‘Muni’?

Yes, if there are good girls in the first team, and they are mostly quite young girls.

“What goal have you set for yourself with the Strip?”

Gain experience, learn a lot, manage to make history with the club.

—Alianza broke the attendance record in a women’s soccer match in Peru, in the final last year. Is it a mirror for the rest of the clubs?

Without a doubt, I think that Alianza is working very well on the administrative and communications issue. This has encouraged clubs and private companies to be interested in investing. This is how they create competition in the other clubs and try to promote our women’s football.

—Who are the emerging figures of the women’s soccer league in 2023? Who do you follow?

I actually follow several girls, some are friends and others I also know because I played against them or shared a dressing room.

—What is missing for women’s football to stop being amateur?

May we all be a single idea, a single force: clubs, coaches, administrators, the media and fans. It is the only way to show that we deserve this profession so loved and fought for by many.

—How are we compared to the rest of the countries in South America?

We are far below the required level, without a doubt there are shortcomings that although it is true that we can no longer work on majors, it can still be done on minors, but we need everyone’s support to be able to apply it and continue advancing.

—Soccer player, journalist or coach. What do you keep?

If football were paid in the way it deserves, I would remain a footballer.