Terrassa is probably one of the most important hockey towns in the world.
In our 250.000 population- city, we have 1 Olympian player for every 2.000 citizens. We just have 5 hockey clubs here, being Atlètic Terrassa, Club Egara, and CD Terrassa its big representatives. However, we’ve been producing some of the best hockey athletes in the world for decades. Ventalló, Colomer, Comerma, Dinarès, Amat, Escudé, Sala, Malgosa, Freixa, Alegre, Oliva…are some of the most iconic surnames. The case of RC Polo or Júnior FC is quite similar but they’re more isolated in other cities. But yes, in Catalonia hockey is a “ghetto” sport, located in very few places but with high returns in performance. It’s about quality, not quantity. Why?
Everything started with a cultural exchange between industrial English & Catalan families. The English were living or visiting Catalonia for business purposes (textile). This foreign community got in contact with our local rich community, most of the owners of capital. Some of these Catalan families also decided to send their sons to the UK for adopting new textile skills and some of them came back with hockey sticks. Hockey was part of this cultural-merchant exchange. A leisure activity for the bourgeois. RCPolo adopted the sport and at the same time hockey got established at Terrassa, a growing textile town.
