Ferroviária will have the first training center (CT) for exclusive use of women’s football in Brazil. The initiative, announced last Friday (23), aims to train athletes between 11 and 20 years old and will be made possible through an agreement between the Araraquara Sports Support Foundation (Fundesport), Petrobras and the Federal Government . The expectation is that 240 girls will be served
The project includes a renovation of the Araraquara (SP) club’s CT, opened in 2008 in the Pinheirinho Ecological Park, which has five football fields. One of them will be transformed into a mini stadium, with stands and changing rooms, to host tournament games from the São Paulo Federation (FPF) and the Brazilian Confederation of the sport (CBF). An administrative building and accommodation with 21 bedrooms will also be built to accommodate up to 82 athletes.
View of the land in Araraquara where the Ferroviária CT will be built, the first in the country exclusively for women’s football – Tete Viviane/Araraquara City Hall/Reserved Rights
At the beginning of 2024, the city of Araraquara was authorized by the Ministry of Sports to seek resources for CT through the Sports Incentive Law. According to the city hall, maintenance and operation will be carried out by Fundesport, which will pass on responsibility to Ferroviária, a partner since 2007, for a period of up to 30 years. The project also includes lectures, workshops, events and visits to schools in the municipality.
“In this construction, with achievements and historical marks, not only with titles, but with citizens and athletes trained here in Araraquara and who came from all over Brazil, from the base to the main team and also the Brazilian national team. It is a great pride to be in a club, with a city of 250 thousand inhabitants, which reveals athletes and invests in women’s football, without being obligated”, declared the director responsible for the Guerreiras Grenás, Nuty Silveira, during the ceremony.
Ferroviária is one of the main forces in Brazilian women’s football. The São Paulo team is two-time national champion (2014 and 2019) and Libertadores (2015 and 2020), in addition to winning a Copa do Brasil (2014) and four editions of the Campeonato Paulista (2002, 2004, 2005 and 2013). In 2024, Ferrinha was a semi-finalist in Paulistão and Brasileirão. In the latter, there were three players in the tournament selection, for the Silver Ball award: full-back Kati, defender Luana and midfielder Micaelly – who also made the ideal team for the State.
The Ferroviária CT construction project is the result of a partnership signed between Ana Lorena Marche, director of women’s football at the São Paulo Football Federation (FPF); Nuty Silveira, director of women’s football at Ferroviária; Clarice Coppetti, executive director of Corporate Affairs at Petrobras; and former player Roseli Gustavo, current president of Fundesport – Rafael Zucco/Ferroviária/Reserved Rights
The Guerreiras Grenás are also known for revealing Brazilian national team players, such as strikers Bia Zaneratto and Aline Gomes. The latter was negotiated in July with North Carolina Courage, from the United States, for more than R$1 million. The new promise of the base is midfielder Natália Vendito, chosen as Paulistão’s revelation and vice-top scorer in this year’s U20 World Cup. By 2025, the club will have a free women’s football school, for children aged six to ten.
