{"id":14362,"date":"2026-09-10T10:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/jose-maria-delgado-father-of-the-player-maria-delgado-we-cover-the-costs-ourselves-because-we-dont-have-any-sponsors-yet\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T09:18:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T07:18:58","slug":"jose-maria-delgado-father-of-the-player-maria-delgado-we-cover-the-costs-ourselves-because-we-dont-have-any-sponsors-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/jose-maria-delgado-father-of-the-player-maria-delgado-we-cover-the-costs-ourselves-because-we-dont-have-any-sponsors-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Delgado, father of the player Mar\u00eda Delgado: \u201cWe cover the costs ourselves because we don\u2019t have any sponsors yet\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The journey a young person must undertake to pursue a career in padel begins long before they set foot on the court. It begins in the car on the way to a tournament, during training sessions, on nights spent in hotels, through personal sacrifices and, above all, in the quiet dedication of those who make it possible for the journey to continue. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mar\u00eda Delgado<\/a><\/b>, European junior champion and ranked 121st in the world <\/a>at just 16 years of age, is chasing her dream of turning professional<\/strong>. But that dream rests on a fragile foundation: the financial and emotional sacrifice of her parents<\/strong>. In a sport where<\/span> a lack of sponsorship threatens the future of promising young players<\/b>, every tournament is a family gamble. In this interview, <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Delgado<\/b>, her father, gives us a glimpse behind the scenes of a dream built on enthusiasm, perseverance\u2026 and a great deal of family effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It can\u2019t be easy supporting a 16-year-old daughter who\u2019s trying to make a name for herself in professional padel. What does that mean for the family? <\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy. It\u2019s not easy in many ways. Of course, there\u2019s the financial side of things, because there\u2019s no completely fixed income, and, as a result of that, there\u2019s also the work situation. Her mum, Mar\u00eda Luisa, has to keep working, because, at the end of the day, she earns what she works for. I\u2019m already retired, so, for my part, I spend all my time with Mar\u00eda. I go with her everywhere. The journeys are long and, in the end, we\u2019re with her all the time. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mar\u00eda
Mar\u00eda Delgado\u2019s parents | PHOTO from the player\u2019s social media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And on an emotional level?<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also very difficult. It\u2019s often said in padel that parents shouldn\u2019t get involved in their daughters\u2019 sporting lives, but I think this issue deserves more in-depth analysis, because it will depend on each daughter, each parent and each family. <\/span><\/p>\n

We have learned a lot along the way. At first, perhaps we were a more demanding family with our daughter, especially when she was little. But, over time, thanks to working with a psychologist and our own experience, we’ve seen that change is possible and that this change can become a huge help for our children. When they trust their parents and feel they aren’t being pressured, it’s fantastic. Mar\u00eda needs to feel that everything will be the result of her hard work and ability; we are there to help her, not to pressure her. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How have you found that balance?<\/b><\/p>\n

It has been a learning process. It’s not easy to have a daughter competing at the level Mar\u00eda is: she has won several championships and is only 16 years old. But we try to keep her calm and ensure she enjoys the journey. She wants to be a professional and takes it absolutely seriously. So, our job is to support her and help her achieve it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the interview with Mar\u00eda<\/a>, she told me that you, along with her coach, Pablo Loza, decide which tournaments to play and with which partner. To what extent are you involved in managing her career? <\/b><\/p>\n

In some cases, our role could simply be limited to the financial aspect: ‘Here’s your daughter, take her.’ But in our case, it’s different, as we also study the matches. We spend hours and hours, even in the early morning, watching potential rivals. Then we tell Mar\u00eda: ‘Look, this player, at a certain moment, doesn’t have a clean backhand; she struggles to hit it. You can take advantage of that.’ Or: ‘Look at this shot, how she does it and how you can counter it.’ <\/span><\/p>\n

We do that part, because the coach can’t do everything either. The coach has five or six girls, including two very strong ones, like Mar\u00eda and Claudia Escacena. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Regarding the financial aspect, what does it take to sustain a sports career at this level?<\/b><\/p>\n

It’s complicated. For travel, for now, we don’t have any help. We cover the expenses ourselves because there are no sponsors yet to take care of the trips. And that means the mother has to keep working. We are not in a situation where we can forget about the financial side. On the contrary: we need a lot of effort to maintain all of this. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mar\u00eda is 16 years old. What do you think about the relationship between the time she dedicates to sports and her personal life? <\/b><\/p>\n

Her life is very focused on sports. She practically has no personal life because, furthermore, she doesn’t want one. I mean, the personal life she has is just what she wants. <\/span>One day she tells me: ‘Dad, tomorrow we have practice.’ And the next day: ‘Tomorrow we have this.’ And sometimes she tells me: ‘I think I’m going to the beach with another friend.’ And I tell her: ‘Perfect, amazing.’ In the balance between personal and sports life, the sports side weighs heavily. It’s probably 90%, and she wants more. In fact, many times it’s the coach himself who has to stop her: ‘No, no. That’s enough. You need to rest.’ <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mar\u00eda
Mar\u00eda Delgado’s father at his daughter’s training session<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And how do the parents experience that effort?<\/b><\/p>\n

On the one hand, we are calm because she is doing what she wants. When you see that all her friends and schoolmates go out, go to clubs, and have another life, she could be doing the same. But she doesn’t want to. For her, this is fantastic. And that also gives us peace of mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At what point did you see that padel could become a professional career?<\/b><\/p>\n

Her idea has always been to be a professional. And we thought: ‘It’s great that she wants to be a professional, but she needs to know the difficulties involved in getting there.’ We don’t want her to get discouraged, not at all. What we want is for her to be happy with what she does along the way, because if she tries and gives her all, no one can ask for more. <\/span><\/p>\n

She tries and does everything. The forecasts are good, but forecasts never mean she will get there. We have to be realistic. Reaching that level is something very few girls achieve. But we think: ‘Why not try to make her one of them?’ We have to try and do it. And if she doesn’t end up becoming a professional… Well, it will be something else. What she is experiencing is already a magnificent experience. It is a very outstanding experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

But for this coming year, we have thought that she can reduce her study level a bit and try to get the points that will allow her to play with higher-level players, with more points and more options. That’s the idea. And we have thought it through carefully. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, what do you expect from these coming years?<\/b><\/p>\n

Above all, that she remains clear that she wants to build a sports career. She is taking it totally seriously, and she also enjoys it. We are going to try to give her all the tools we can. But we also want her to be aware that getting there is very difficult. If she succeeds, fantastic. And if not, she will have learned a lot along the way. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And what makes you most proud of her?<\/b><\/p>\n

That she is an exceptional girl in all aspects of life. Not just because of sports. She has never given us any problems of any kind. She is wonderful. She is very lucky to have parents who support her, but we are also very lucky to have a daughter like Mar\u00eda. She is an exceptional girl. I wish all children were like her. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The journey a young person must undertake to pursue a career in padel begins long before they set foot on the court. It begins in the car on the way to a tournament, during training sessions, on nights spent in hotels, through personal sacrifices and, above all, in the quiet dedication of those who make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159,158,169],"tags":[],"clasificacion":[],"pais":[],"tipo-de-torneo":[],"tipo-de-competicion":[],"class_list":["post-14362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-brief-news","category-young-padel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17643,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14362\/revisions\/17643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14362"},{"taxonomy":"clasificacion","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/clasificacion?post=14362"},{"taxonomy":"pais","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pais?post=14362"},{"taxonomy":"tipo-de-torneo","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipo-de-torneo?post=14362"},{"taxonomy":"tipo-de-competicion","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipo-de-competicion?post=14362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}