Sara Gama said stop: emotional farewell to played soccer
After a long career at a high level, which developed almost in parallel with the steady growth of women’s soccer in Italy, Sara Gama has decided to bring the curtain down on an impressive career, in which she won 7 Scudetti, 4 Italian Cups and 5 Italian Super Cups, winning both with the Brescia and Juventus jerseys, also establishing herself with the national team, with which she took the field 135 times.
The now former soccer player wanted to summarize all her emotions in an open letter, published on the official Juventus channels:“It all started in Trieste. A ball, the first kicks thrown without thinking too much about it in my neighborhood or on the Barcola waterfront. The first team with lifelong friends, Zaule and then Polisportiva San Marco, the first entirely women’s team, a field in the middle of the Village waters. A ball that took me to Tavagnacco and Chiasiellis, away from home but still in the lands of Friuli. And then much farther away: Los Angeles, American soccer, the vanguard of women’s. Paris, for the first big experience abroad’abroad”.
“Always with my traveling companion, the ball, the red thread that allowed me to experience indescribable emotions pursuing my great passion. Then Brescia, the first victories with a club. And also a lot of blue, emotions that you do not forget with the flag of your country on your chest. So many matches, so many countries touched around the world. Our European as very young girls, which gave us hope, and that World Cup that gave us awareness”.
“Finally, her: Juventus. So many trophies and so many battles. But most of all, a club that made even the dreams we did not know we had come true. A thousand adventures lived together with these colors, the ones I wore the longest after the blue ones. But the thing that I will forever carry with me is the light in the eyes of my teammates on the first day we began this wonderful journey: it was all already written there. These years represent an indescribable journey; and what will stay with me, as it happens to all of us who live by sports and emotions, are the people. The teammates with whom we fought to win victories on the green rectangle, and for something greater outside”.
“Walking side by side with you on this journey has been the most important thing for me. There’s still a long way to go but we’ll always walk it side by side, whether it’s on the field or elsewhere. Thank you to my family for doing the fundamental thing: leaving me free to decide my own destiny and to chart my own path. And thanks to the people who have been close to me over the years and what a family I have become. And then thanks to you, fans. You have grown with us. Know that your emotions are ours”.
“From Trieste to Turin, passing through the world, the ball goes far but always returns and when it does it brings with it what it is really worth: people, emotions, life. Today I kick that ball and let it go. With pride, with gratitude, with a full heart: it is my farewell to soccer played. The’love for this sport and its people stays with me forever”.
