“Repartint joc”, a new chapter of Ments Inquietes
26/11/20
This UIC Barcelona series, which uncovers stories from within the university community, will be launched today.
Martina Capdevila Barbany is 19 years old. She lives in Granollers and is a second-year student on the Bachelor's Degree in Audiovisual Communication at UIC Barcelona. Martina is described as a happy and very active person; someone who loves to ski, play the guitar, swim in the sea and spend time with her friends and family. Do you identify with her? Or perhaps with one of her hobbies? It is very likely you do, given that many of us share Martina’s passions. But what makes this episode’s star a true “ment inquieta” (inquisitive mind)?
Granddaughter of the well-known, professional handball player Joan Barbany, more commonly known as “the wonder of Vallès” for his goal-scoring fury, Martina follows in the athletic footsteps of her grandfather. The star of this episode of Ments Inquietes is also a professional handball player at the Granollers Handball Club, as well as playing for the Spanish national handball team. Indeed, passion for this sport runs in the family, but Martina has managed to make a name for herself in the world of handball and after chatting with her, we’ve discovered how.
At just 13, Martina received a grant to attend a centre for high performance athletes near Barcelona, an experience that allowed her to combine her secondary and high school studies with handball. Her first experience with the world of handball came long before, and in fact, according to her, “she’s been on the court since she was born”, given that her parents have always taken her to her brothers’ and sisters’ matches.
However, a long time has passed since then and Martina has managed, through hard work and dedication, to remain at the top of the handball mountain; a difficult peak to reach along a path littered with obstacles and steep ups and downs. But the greatest evidence that Martina has conquered her “handball Everest” is that she has competed in elite-level championships, such as the Catalan and Spanish handball leagues, a European championship, a world championship, a Challenge Cup, and other well-known competitions.
We might have revealed that Martina is an elite athlete studying at UIC Barcelona, but there’s still a lot to learn about her. Before watching the video, we invite you to guess what led Martina to choose the bachelor’s degree she’s studying, what this athlete’s long-term objectives are... The answers to these and many other questions are revealed in the interview. Want to know what she has to say? Watch the video!


