Madpoint, a gay tennis club set in Madrid, Spain, with more than 70 members, has been the first one in Spain to comply with parity between men and women in directive posts after the appointment of Mariate Escalada as co-president.
Madpoint and Escalada became one of the pioneers in complying with the recommendation presented in the last European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation General Assembly held in Madrid, where the hundred clubs where asked to promote the appointment of women in head positions.
Madpoint General Assembly, recently held, noted that recommendation and modified its statutes to proceed, by unanimous vote of the members in the Assembly, to the appointment of Mariate Escalada as female co-president. She shares this position with the former sole president of the Madrid sports club, Juan David Iniesta Garcia.
Escalada's aim with this step of creating a female co-presidency is to serve as an example and as a special incentive to attract more girls to play tennis in our club. From its foundation, two years ago, Madpoint has made an important effort to increase female participation in the club activities.
Since the beginning, Mrs Escalada has made out one of the most active and respected members in the club. In fact, her appointment as co-president was unanimous in the last general assembly of the club. The new female co-president already has her first "institutional" mission, since she will be Madpoint representative in the next Annual General Assembly of the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation to be held in Rome.
The efforts for additional female involvement will continue in Madpoint star activity, the international tournament Madrid Tennis Open on the 20th-22th of June in Madrid, with several initiatives, both of image and of organization.