| Encarna Hernandez | |
 | |
| Birth: | 23 January 1917 Lorca, Murcia, Spain |
| Death: | 19 December 2022 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Age: | 105 years, 330 days |
| Country: |  ESP
|
| Centenarian | |
Encarnacion Hernandez Ruiz [Spanish: Encarnación Hernández] (23 January 1917 – 19 December 2022) was a Spanish centenarian and pioneer of women's basketball as a professional player and coach.
Biography[]
Encarna Hernandez was born in Lorca, Murcia, Spain on 23 January 1917. At the age of 10, she arrived in Barcelona together with her parents and 10 siblings since her father had to work at the Universal Exposition of 1929.
She began practicing basketball at the age of 13 with the boys and girls of her neighborhood, on a field built by what would later become her husband, Emilio Planelles. She not only played basketball but also practiced other sports: cycling, skating ... For her the most important thing was playing sports. At 154 centimeters tall, Encarna was known as 'the girl with the hook' for her ability to use this resource.
In 1931 she participated in the founding of the Atlas Club, to which her husband also belonged. Aurora Jorda and Encarna Hernandez were among the most outstanding players in the women's team, with Encarna being the absolute top scorer of the club, above the men.
In 1932 the Atlas Club was dissolved and its players became part of Laieta. There she would be trained by Fernando Muscat and would coincide with players from the Club Femeni i d'Esports such as Maria "Mary" Morros or Carmen Sugrañes, in a team in which they won the first Catalan Women's Championship held in the 1935/36 season, winning all their matches.
Encarna was selected to participate in athletics events of the Popular Olympiad, but this was not held at the outbreak of the Civil War. During the Civil War she continued to play basketball matches despite the difficulties of the war itself, these being more exhibitions than official competitions.
At the end of the Civil War, she was a basketball instructor appointed by the Falange to make "strong and healthy women for the country." Although she became a popular figure in the local sports press, it was only when she played for the Falange that she charged a modest amount of money, so she had to work hard off the court and had to combine work hours with training.
After the Civil War he played for Laieta, Cottet, Moix Llambes, apart from the Women's Falange Section, teams in which his sister Maruja Hernandez also played. She won championships in Spain with both Cottet and the Women's Section.
In 1944 she received an offer from FC Barcelona, staying at the club until 1953, retiring from the competition at the age of 36 to be a mother. She got an offer from the Italian SEU, which she rejected.
She broke barriers in the world of sports in the 1930s and was active until 1953. She was one of the pioneers of Spanish basketball, as a player, coach and referee. She was the first coach of Spain when she led the Pena Garcia de Hospitalet team in 1932. She would lead five more teams. With a ball in her hands, trying to emulate admired heroines of the social sphere, as "blessed those women Victoria Kent , Clara Campoamor, Federica Montseny..."
She was also one of the first women in Barcelona to obtain a driving license in Franco's Spain. Her home has become a pilgrimage site for many of the basketball players. Women who have made history like Amaya Valdemoro, Elisa Aguilar or Laia Palau (from the same neighborhood of Barcelona where the lorquina lives), have come to her home to meet a woman who has a small museum in her apartment with her memories and compilations from the triumphs of women's basketball to the present.
In 2016, "The Girl on the Hook" was presented, a documentary made by Raquel Barrera Sutorra, and produced by Ochichornia, a film that has followed Encarna from 96 to 99 years old and portrays the trajectory of this basketball pioneer.
Hernandez died in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain on 19 December 2022 at the age of 105 years, 330 days.
References[]
- Encarna Hernández, pionera de profesión - La Opinión de Murcia (laopiniondemurcia.es)
- 2022. Personas españolas mayores de 105 años. Tengo más de 100. (Segunda Centena)
- Muere a los 105 años La Niña del Gancho, la mamá del baloncesto español jugado por mujeres El País, 19 December 2022