The Universitat de València and the Valencian Government signed on Monday the creation of the Pilota Valenciana Chair, that wants to dignify this sport and to turn it into a model due to its cultural and academic value. The Chair will give an award for Final Master’s Degree Projects and two grants for doctoral thesis about Pilota Valenciana. A mixed committee will propose the person to rule the Chair, the naming of which will correspond to the Principal of the university.

In the signature, in the Valencian Department of Education, Research, Culture and Sport, participated the Counsellor Vicent Marzà and the Principal Esteban Morcillo.

The Chair allows the development of a series of training, cultural, research and university extension activities focused on the constant knowledge and dissemination of this traditional Valencian sport, the Pilota Valenciana.

The Principal of the Universitat de València, Esteban Morcillo, explained that it is a day “of joy due to the signature of an agreement with grants, awards, congresses, doctoral thesis, and very diverse activities related with the world of the pilota”. The Principal highlighted that the Chair “is part of a commitment that, historically, always had the Universitat de València for our tradition, history, culture, language and everything that can be done in order to disseminate, train and contribute to the research and generation of knowledge of this Valencian sport, is welcome”.

The creation of this Chair contributes to turn the Pilota Valenciana into a referent and to recognise its cultural and academic value. The Counsellor Vicent Marzà said: “We wanted, and we are making it possible with this signature, to dignify the Pilota Valenciana also academically and, thus, to make the research around the world of the Pilota a referent”. Marzà added that the Chair includes “aids and grants for people who want to do their doctoral studies about Pilota Valenciana” and he pointed out the fact that “pilota went from the trinquets (courtfield) and streets to university studies because is another way of working to dignify our sport”.

Finally, the President of the Pilota Valenciana Federation, José Daniel Sanjuán, was satisfied: “I thank the Counsellor Vicent Marzà and the Principal of the University because I think this is what pilota needed for many years in order to give the teachers the knowledge about this sport so they can pass it to schools and high schools. This is the beginning of a real change in our sport”.

Among the activities that will be carried out in the framework of the Pilota Valenciana Chair stands out the concession of an award for Final Master’s Degree Projects, with a topic related to Pilota Valenciana; two grants for doctoral thesis also related with this topic, the organisation of training courses about Pilota Valenciana, as well as seminars or congresses with an informative an educational purpose.

Likewise, is included as one of the activities the implementation of the research project “Analizar la opinión de diferentes colectivos de la Pilota Valenciana” (Analysing the opinion of different groups of Pilota Valenciana), the organisation of dissemination events in schools and different publications about Pilota Valenciana.

The Valencian Department of Education, Research, Culture and Sport will contribute during 2016 with a total of 30.000# with the objective of collaborating with the Universitat de València in the expenses occasioned due to the implementation of the Chair and the mentioned activities. Meanwhile, the Universitat de València will develop the agreed activity programme and will be in charge of the human and material media.

Likewise, the agreement stablishes the creation of a monitoring and control mixed commission, composed by three members of each entity, in charge of the planning, execution and evaluation of the actions. The committee will propose the person to rule the Chair, the naming of which will correspond to the Principal of the university.