The Real Sociedad field hockey teamthe team in which Patricia Maraña's doctoral student plays, has won its ninth women's field hockey league. TecnunPatricia Maraña, has won its ninth women's field field hockey league title by defeating the Catalan Junior team this past weekend. Maraña's voice revealed this morning that the celebrations for winning this title have been intense, "especially because we did not expect it. I still haven't landed and I still can't quite believe it," admits the athlete from Tecnun.

Not in vain, the achievement of the title by the txuri-urdin will go down in history, since throughout the season they fought to avoid the 'play off' of relegation and have ended up winning the title after being eighth in the regular league and winning only five games -four in the regular league and one in the quarterfinals- throughout the championship. "At summary, a month ago we were fighting to avoid relegation and today we are celebrating the title of champions, that's the beauty of this sport," says Maraña.

This is not the first time Patricia has won the league title, as five years ago she also won it with Real Sociedad. "At that time Patricia was in the third year of her Degree", recalls Jose Mari Sarriegi, the Deputy Director of development of the School, who adds: "That time they won the league on a Sunday morning and, in the afternoon, Patricia was already writing me about something related to her studies. I told her to relax for the day and enjoy what she had achieved. And it seems that on this occasion she has paid more attention to me", says 'Sarri' with a laugh.

After the final whistle, the apotheosis was unleashed. The players were overjoyed and, perhaps because of this, the celebrations were even bigger. On Monday they visited several media outlets such as Noticias de Gipuzkoa, EITB and El Diario Vasco and the news of the league title made the front page of the newspapers. Yesterday, the Real Sociedad field field hockey team and coaching staff were received yesterday at the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the City Council of San Sebastian as a tribute. Accompanying the champions was the president of the club, Jokin Aperribay. Present at the reception at the Provincial Palace were the deputy general of Gipuzkoa, Markel Olano; the deputy of Culture and Sports, Denis Itxaso; and the director of Youth and Sports, Goizane Álvarez. 

Afterwards, the team went to the Consistory of San Sebastian, where they were received by the mayor, Eneko Goia, and several councilors. In both acts the institutions praised the effort, the values and the good moment of the feminine sport. For their part, the players wanted to take advantage of the media hype of these days to claim to the institutions their implication in the construction of a new field. "He who does not cry does not suckle," Maraña said humorously.