The Hockey Girls () is a 2019 Catalan-language TV series produced by Brutal Media and TV3, which is the official Catalan channel. It was premiered on April 29, 2019. It was, initially, a final degree project of 4 students who studied "Comunicació Audiovisual" (translated as: "audiovisual communication") at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra: Laura Azemar, Ona Anglada, Natàlia Boadas i Marta Vivet. They presented the project to Pitching Audiovisual of the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia, whose main goal is to connect and create a network with all the elements and institutions of the audiovisual area. It aroused interest from different Catalan production companies, among which was found Brutal Media, which finally shaped the project. It is about a girls’ roller hockey team and a community of people involved with hockey.
The series was awarded with the equality prize of CIMA in the FesTVal. CIMA is an association set up by women which expects to encourage the presence of women in the audiovisual media.
It was added to the Netflix catalogue in September 2019.
Synopsis When Germán, coach of the Club Patí Minerva women's hockey team, decides to leave them in order to train the rival team called "Olímpic", the club president (Enric Ricou) decides that the best solution is to get rid of the team because of economic problems and because he does not believe in female sport. The team players, who are Berta, Emma, Laila, Lorena, Raquel and Flor and who are in high school, struggle to save the women's team in their club while they try to find their place inside and outside the team.
At the same time, Anna Ricou, who is Emma's sister and who had won the Spanish and European Championships during her experience in the club, returns home from Lisbon to recover from an injury and get away with the darkest episode of her sportive career: she caused the coma of one of her teammates after a fight. Finally, Anna gets involved with the girls’ team and she's asked to coach them.
Themes So many powerful themes and storylines are brought into the series. There are stories around women's rights, women's agency, pregnancy, abortion, sex, family relationships, ADHD, corruption, body image, team spirit, racism, teamwork, responsibility, sexuality, and coming of age.
Cast The main characters are:
Iria del Río as Anna Ricou Mas. as Berta Figuera Terrats. as Emma Ricou Mas. as Laila Bakri. Mireia Oriol as Lorena Sánchez Ballart. as Raquel Alcober Monforte. Asia Ortega as Florencia 'Flor' Vilamayor. as Janina Díaz. as Gina Camps.
The other characters are:
David Selvas i Jansana as Toni Alcober Marín. Nil Cardoner i Gratacós as Òscar Sánchez Ballart. Nora Navas Garcia as Júlia Terrats Herraiz David Solans as Ricard Planes Rius. Xúlio Abonjo Escudero as "el Pela". Mireia Aixalà i Rosselló as Sílvia Ballart Monteserín. Guillermo Lasheras i Tebar as Quim Puigdevall Centelles or called «Putxi». Marc Clotet i Fresquet as Germán Ruestes Hernández. Juli Fàbregas i Elías as Santi Ricou Prats. Pablo Hernández as Nil Ricou Montagut. Gemma Brió i Zamora as Olga Terrats Herraiz. Hamid Krim as Youssef Bakri. Josep Linuesa i Guerrera as Enric Ricou Prats Jan Mediavilla as Bernat. Aida Oset as Montse Pagès Cuesta Guim Puig i Mas as Lluc Ferrer Raventós. Àgata Roca i Maragall as Núria Mas Pujol. Romina Cocca as Paulina Vilamayor Astudillo. Ivana Miño as Susanna Monforte. Arnau Casanovas as Jordi Garriga Lozano.
Characters
Anna: she has been playing professional hockey in Lisbon when an injury sends her home. As if the injury wasn't enough trouble, she left one of her teammates in a coma after an argument in the locker room. That problem haunts her both mentally and legally. She will become the coach of the women's team. She is competitive, intelligent, independent and honest. Berta: she is the captain of Minerva's Female Team. She wants to be a doctor. Her mother is in a mental hospital so she lives with her aunt Terrats. Emma: she can be a problem. She is only 16 and very emotional. She's interested in music. When her dad and mom go to Budapest to work, she's left with Anna, who can't control her very well. She was adopted when she was very young and, although both her parents and sister have never treated her differently, she now finds it hard to find her place in the family. She is Laila's best friend. Laila: she is of Moroccan descent. Her dad Youssef takes the family to Morocco each summer. She is a shy, nervous, introverted girl. Laila doesn't do well at school and wants to drop out to be an artist. She loves manga, drawing and skateboarding. Lorena: is a free spirited lesbian and she is a cheerful and optimistic girl. Her father is a rock musician who doesn't live with them. She aspires to be as free as he is. She has a brother called Oscar on the boys' hockey team. Her mom, Silvia, is in a romance with Enric. Raquel: is the goalie and the goalkeeper of Minerva's female team. She has one problem at home that we don't learn about until season 2: she is the daughter of some publicists who spoil her a lot, but they don't pay much attention to her. She has a big argument in her episode about being ready for sex. At first, her boyfriend is Oscar. Flor: she is from Argentina. She's the power player on the team or one of the best players. She is strong, solitary, romantic and competitive. She has a girlfriend back home. When that falls apart she looks closer to where she's living now for a little romance. Gina: she is a genius with social media and helps the team gather fans and prove themselves to Enric. She's a figure skater, but joins the hockey team midway through the season. She's crazy about Lorena. Lorena is crazy about Gina, too, but Lorena isn't very good at monogamy. Oscar: Lorena's brother who also plays hockey. Germán: he's moving on to take over a better team for more money. Anna and Germán were together in the past, and their feelings linger. But he's now living with Montse, his partner, who is also a lawyer. Enric Ricou: he is the person who runs the sports center. Enric hates the girls’ hockey team and doesn't want them around. The girls have to fight him every inch of the way just to play. Also, he is Anna's and Emma's uncle. Terrats: a physical therapist who will help Anna with her injury. She's also a coach at the Sports Center and Anna's boss there. Youssef: Laila's father. He runs the bar where everyone hangs out and where much of the action takes place.
Episodes Season Episodes Original release Start End 1 13 April 29, 2019 July 22, 2019 2 13 March 30, 2020 June 22, 2020
First Season Num.global Num. Season Title Release date TV3 audience 1 1 "Emma" April 29, 2019 459.000 (15,6%)Emma, Laila, Raquel, Flor, Lorena and Berta strive to ensure that the women's section of Club Patí Minerva doesn't disappear, against Enric's ambition, who only supports the men's section. At the same time, Anna returns home with an injury, and finds her adopted sister Emma who doesn't seem to be happy to see her. 2 2 "Anna" May 6, 2019 324.000 (12,3%)Anna starts to coach the women's team, trying to imitate Terrats' style without too much success, while hiding a serious secret about what happened in Lisbon. Emma does her utmost so that Santi and Núria don't force her to go with them to Budapest and leave the team and her life in the village. 3 3 "Berta" May 13, 2019 323.000 (12,5%)Berta doesn't know how to face her possible pregnancy. Anna and Germán are left alone after an institute reunion dinner. In the meantime, the team agrees to contact a famous youtuber, so that she comes to see them and echoes their team in the Net, something that Enric doesn't like at all. 4 4 "Lorena" May 20, 2019286.000 (10,7%)Lorena discovers that her mother has an affair with Enric and decides to go and live for a while with her father in the farmhouse. Anna begins to apply a new training method, more personal and unique, which has good results. When the girls complain to the boys because they always have the best training schedule, the boys and the girls decide to play it on the rink, and sneak into the pavilion without Enric knowing it.55"Raquel"May 27, 2019287.000 (11,2%)Raquel feels strange with Òscar after what happened and avoids him. Santi returns to the village, iexcited about a new personal project that nobody quite understands. The girls get to win a match and celebrate it but with such bad luck that the party in the pavilion ends badly. Terrats and Youssef blackmail Enric to support the girls' team.66"Flor"June 3, 2019356.000 (13,4%)Seeing her relationship in jeopardy, Flor decides to go into hiding to Buenos Aires after an important game to celebrate her anniversary with Valen. Terrats now trains the girls with a strong hand as she prepares them to face their Olympic rivals. Anna feels more and more in the well and more alone, to the point of reaching the limit.77"Gina"June 10, 2019300.000 (11,8%)Anna tries to remedy what happened by seeing a psychologist, to whom she explains the truth. Santi asks Núria for a favor for Terrats, a fact that tenses their relationship. In the meantime, the team has to look for a new player and Gina appears as the only solution. Gina's anguish for being at the level will put the team in danger and also her relationship with Lorena.88"Laila"June 17, 2019245.000 (9,8%)Laila and Nil's relationship is progressing, but Laila has problems at school and her parents make her decide whether or not to take medication for ADHD. Enric prepares an institutional video about the club that makes him look good in the face of the elections for president and wants to use the girls, but the Hockey girls and Terrats will face him.99"Anna i Germán"June 24, 2019267.000 (10,8%)Anna and Germán end up spending time together and remember the old days. On the other hand, Terrats wants Anna to be part of her team for her candidacy as president, but this will make Anna confess what she did in Lisbon. At the same time, the boys have a meal in the Pela's farmhouse without him, which ends up with trouble.1010"Juntes" (together)July 1, 2019241.000 (10,2%)The girls end up abandoning a match to support Lorena. Lorena decides to go against the tide and, with the help of her friends, does what she thinks is right. Sílvia breaks away from Enric and focuses on her family and close friends.1111"Amigues" (friends)July 8, 2019 207.000 (8,1%)Emma investigates her past with Laila's help. At the same time, Laila and Nil have a special night thanks to Emma. Anna's Lisbon case becomes more complicated, despite Montse's help, when an unexpected new witness appears. Even so, she receives the support of the girls on the team. The tension between Enric and Terrats over the presidency of the Club increases, as she is willing to hang out to dry Enric's dirty laundry.1212"El partit" (the match)Juliol 15, 2020 241.000 (10,6%)The future of the girls is at stake in a final crucial match against the Olympic, which can make them go up to the OK League or make them lose the team forever. Gina can't take it anymore and asks Lorena for absolute sincerity, while Flor is debating whether to return to Buenos Aires or stay in the village for good. 1313"El club" (the club)July 22, 2019241.000 (11,2%)The girls have grown apart since the last match and this makes Raquel very lonely, without the support of any of them and especially of Berta. Berta, on the other hand, faces her future: the results of the University Access Tests and the decision her mother has made. Terrats has doubts about her health, at the same time that the presidency of the Club is at stake against Enric. The whole club is awaiting these results, as the continuity of the women's section next season depends on them.
Second season