Jaime Vila
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Jaime Vila Capdevila (1860 – 21 July 1954) was a Spanish physical education teacher, sports promoter and leader. He is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings of
gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
and
football in Catalonia Football is the most important sport in Catalonia and was introduced in the late 19th century by a combination of mostly British immigrant workers and visiting sailors, and students returning from Britain. Catalonia led the way in the development ...
, having been one of the fundamental heads behind the Tolosa Gymnasium, which he served as a teacher and later as director, as well as being the main driving force behind the foundation of
Català FC Català Futbol Club, and later Català Sport Club, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed from 1899 until its dissolution in the late 1920s. It was one of the most important entities in the amateur beginnings of football in C ...
, serving as the first president of the club between 1899 and 1905. As the founder of Català, Vila was the great rival of
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
, founded by
Joan Gamper Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably Barcelona and Zürich. ...
, at the turn of the century. Jaime Vila's Català and Gamper's FC Barcelona would star in a long controversy about the "Deanery" of football in the city. In addition to gymnastics and football, he also promoted
athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...
,
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
,
fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...
and
boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
. He was also a member of the ''Center Excursionista de Catalunya'' for more than forty years. He received numerous distinctions, such as the honorary diploma of the Spanish Gymnastics Federation in 1900. In 1947 he received a tribute in which he was recognized as dean of gymnastics in Barcelona.


Gymnastics career

Born in 1860 in the
Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...
town of
Les Oluges Les Oluges () is a village in the comarca of Segarra, in the province of Lleida and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of . References Notable people * Carmen Balcells Carmen Balcells Segala (9 August 1930 – 20 ...
to a family of peasants, Vila moved to
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
at the tender age of just 14 years old. He had several jobs during his first years in the Catalan capital, from working in a
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
factory to even acting as a
cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...
, before finally joining the ''Gimnasio Tolosa'' (run by Eduardo Tolosa Alsina) located on the ''Duque de la Victoria'' street as a teacher in the mid-1880s. The gymnasiums were few at the time, with the oldest one in the city being as old as him, having been founded in 1860 by pioneer Joaquim Ramis i Taix. Vila was a man of clear and personal ideas and in the early 1890s, he set out to create a system that would make work all the
muscles Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...
of the body, without exception. Although he already had some knowledge about
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
, he asked for the advice of a doctor to make sure it was safe. His system consisted of a series of exercises, and he named it after "
Physical culture Physical culture, also known as body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US. Origins The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century ...
". First, he had a
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
build a series of
pulleys Sheave without a rope A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft enabling a taut cable or belt passing over the wheel to move and change direction, or transfer power between itself and a shaft. A pulley may have a groove or grooves between fla ...
in the gym, which at that time constituted a novelty, and then, he combined those devices with weights, rope, ladder, and bars. Every day a different exercise had to be performed, which lasted 45 minutes, and then repeat each movement 25 times. In the end, they took stimulating cold water from hoses; later, however, he settled for the shower. This system, which had nothing to do with what he had practiced in Tolosa until then, introduced the novelty of a self-made educational system, which distinguished the Tolosa gym from the other gymnasiums of that time, and thus, it began attracting a lot of new students, who were mainly
athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...
s who faced tough physical challenges, such as boxers,
cyclists Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for pur ...
or rowers, who came to his gym to better strengthen their body. As a result of this success, Vila became the Tolosa gym's director in the late 1890s, a position he held until the early 1900s. Vila was a serious man of few words and with a very strict lifestyle. He dedicated his life and efforts to his
vocation A vocation () is an Work (human activity), occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity. ...
, which was "not the triumph, but simple and constant physical improvement". This is why he lived a long life for his time, dying an unmarried man at the age of 94, and having worked until just months before his death. He stayed in the gymnasium morning and afternoons, attending to his students (and he always had students), and sometimes he even had private classes at noon. And
Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...
s were used to organize all kinds of competitions and excursions outside the city. For instance, in 1898, Vila organized the first official race in Catalonia, which ran between Barcelona and
Sarria Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Sarria. Sarria is the most populous town on the French Way in Galicia, with 13,700 inhabitants and the m ...
. He was also a member of the ''Center Excursionista de Catalunya'' for more than forty years. On 24 September 1900, in a meeting held in Barcelona by the Spanish Gymnastics Federation, he was awarded the first Diploma of Honor, created by the painter Antonio Utrillo. In 1913, in the First Spanish International Congress on Tuberculosis, he was awarded the Medal of Gold and the Diploma of Honor in gymnastics.


Footballing career


Founding Català FC and deanery of Barcelona

Football began taking root in the city in the 1890s, and soon it gained followers among members belonging to the Tolosa Gymnasium, where Vila was introduced to football by his younger students. As a lover of sport and physical culture, he also began practicing this new sport at the
Velódromo de la Bonanova The Velódromo de la Bonanova was a sports venue in the city of Barcelona, Spain. It was the first velodrome in the city, although it was located in the neighboring municipality of Sant Gervasi – la Bonanova, Sant Gervasi, which in 1897 was anne ...
, and eventually, he began to promote it among his students, creating the football team ''Sociedad Deportiva Tolosa'', which trained in Bonanova. It was around this time that Vila met
Joan Gamper Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably Barcelona and Zürich. ...
, who came to him to propose the idea of creating a well-organized football club, but Vila flatly rejects him because he was foreign. On 21 October 1899, Vila, together with his students, founded the ''Català Futbol Club'', in a meeting held at the Tolosa gym, thus becoming the first
football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
formed in Catalonia. Although the club was founded in October, Català was not officially established until 17 December 1899, in a meeting held in the Café San Gervasio de Cassolas, in which they formalized the first board of directors with Vila being named the club's first president, while
Miguel Valdés Miguel Valdes or Valdés may refer to: * Miguel Valdes (born 1940), Cuban former sports shooter * Miguel Valdés (footballer) (1867–1951), Spanish gymnast and footballer See also * Miguel Valdez (born 1984), Mexican former footballer * Miguel V ...
, one of his best students, became the club's
treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
. On 22 October 1899, the day after the club's formation, they organized their first training session with a match between the club's members, most of which being Vila's students, and as their teacher, he inevitably was the
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...
of that game, and despite not actually knowing how the rules of the sport worked, he displayed great skills as a referee. All the men involved in that game were Catalans, because in its beginnings, Vila wanted to promote the local sport, and thus, it only admitted Catalan players to its team, hence the club's name. Despite becoming known for not admitting foreigners, Català accepted its first foreign players just two months after its foundation, when on 11 February 1900, Català decided to name six Scots as honorary partners:
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
, Denniston, Dykes,
Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
,
Girvan Girvan (, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, and north of St ...
and A. Black. The traditional explanation of his rejection of Gamper being due to his foreign status seems contradictory to the presence of several Scots (Catholics) in Català's ranks, so some historians have theorized that Vila's rejection of Gamper and his companions was due to their status as
protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
, not because they were foreigners. Surely offended and hurt by this rejection, Gamper took a few days to go to another Barcelona gym where he was well received, ''Gimnasio Solé'' (Tolosa's rival), where he went on to found
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
on 29 November 1899. Naturally, Vila's Català FC and Gamper's FC Barcelona developed a very strong
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
during the first years of
football in Catalonia Football is the most important sport in Catalonia and was introduced in the late 19th century by a combination of mostly British immigrant workers and visiting sailors, and students returning from Britain. Catalonia led the way in the development ...
, starring in a long controversy about the "Deanery" of football in the city, with the polemics about who was the first official club of Barcelona (the club dean of the city) finishing only when the blaugranas proved that they had been the first club to be registered in the civil registry on 29 November, only a few days before Català FC, who did it on 17 December. Either way, Vila stayed out of this debate, as above all, he wanted football to be practiced in an absolutely sporting way, unrelated to official status. In fact, the only reason why he began to promote football among his students was because it was the sport with the best chance of hatching among that generation of Barcelona gymnasts due to being an
outdoor sport Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...
, and that is also why most of the first Barcelona clubs were born in gyms and under the protection and encouragement of characters linked to the Spanish Gymnastic Federation such as Jaime Vila and
Narciso Masferrer Narciso Masferrer Sala (26 April 1867 – 9 April 1941) was a pioneer of Catalan sports, sports journalism, and Olympism throughout Spain. He was present at most Catalan sports initiatives of the first third of the 20th century, founding and beco ...
.


Playing career

On 26 December 1899, Català and FC Barcelona decided to set their rivalry aside to join the best players of each team in order to face
Team Anglès Team Anglès or English Colony Team, was a football scratch team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed only during the year 1900, playing a total of four friendly matches against the likes of FC Barcelona and Català FC. The team mainly consis ...
, a team made up of members of the British colony living in Barcelona, and it was Vila who took the role of the referee, as the English lost 1–2. On 25 February 1900, Vila played in a friendly against
Escocès FC The Escocès FC, officially founded as Escocés Fútbol Club, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed only during the year 1900, playing a total of ten Exhibition game, friendlies against the likes of FC Barcelona and Català ...
at Bonanova, which ended in a 1–5 loss. In December 1901, the 41-year-old Vila featured in two friendly matches against FC Barcelona as a midfielder, with both games ending in heavy losses (1–4 and 0–8). He also played one unofficial match for FC Barcelona in the 1901–02 season. On 10 January 1903, the name of the club changed to ''Català Sport Club'', when the club merged with the recent-dissolved
Club Universitari Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...
, but Vila stayed at the heel and kept carrying out the effective presidency, and later, the honorary one. His legacy as a pioneer of Catalan football has been largely forgotten due to his discretion and simplicity. Vila's activity as a referee would continue since a few years later, he occasionally oversaw some matches of the Catalan championship, including one each in the 1905–06 and 1909–10 seasons.


Gimnàs Vila

In 1904 he founded ''Gimnàs Vila'' (), where he continued his work as a great popularizer and promoter of physical culture, gymnastics, athletics,
Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...
,
fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...
, and boxing. In 1908 he inaugurated the weapons room, where he practiced fencing, as well as the boxing room, known as ''Sala Vidal''. In 1917 he moved his Gymnasium to a basement on the number 87 of street de Pau CIaiis, where it is still open. He organized many gymnastics festivals. One of his outstanding students was Nemesi Ponsati, who also dedicated his entire life to the sporting world, as a practitioner of Swedish gymnastics,
water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
,
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
, and athletics. Students from the also attended. The ''Gimnàs Vila'' remained open until the end of the 20th century.


Later life

Vila lived his later life alone, except for a niece who began to help him every afternoon at the gym. They came to Barcelona shortly before the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
began, so they had to live in a flat on Bonavista street, but they got through it without any major incident. In April 1947, Vila received a
tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...
in which he was recognized as the dean of gymnastics in Barcelona.


Death

Vila suffered a
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
a few years later, from which he recovered almost entirely by force through gymnastics. Vila died on 21 July 1954 at the age of 94.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vila, Jaime 1860 births 1954 deaths Gymnasts from Lleida Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Spanish referees and umpires Spanish gymnasts