At San Martin Prison, Rugby Helps Incarcerated Women Rebuild Their Lives

Medill School of Journalism | May 9, 2025, 1:58 pm

by Peggy Helman

This article is part of a reporting project from students at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism on stories from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

At the San Martín prison, located just outside Buenos Aires, the Spartan Foundation, a rugby program, offers inmates a chance to transform their lives.

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“I think my life would have been completely different if I hadn’t crossed paths with them,” said Micaela Insegna, a former Spartan who now volunteers with the organization.

Since 2019, Argentina’s Ministry of Justice and Human Rights declared the penal system in a national state of emergency due to overcrowding that leaves inmates without sufficient food, medical attention, soap and even beds. Among some of the nearly 125,000 prisoners in Argentina affected by this crisis are inmates in San Martín prison’s Unit 48, which houses hundreds of inmates serving time for murder, assault, armed robbery and drug offenses.

But the Spartan Foundation is helping these inmates, and Argentina’s prisons, rewrite the narrative.

“We work very hard with them while they’re inside so that when they leave, they can truly transform their lives and choose a different path from the one that led them to prison in the first place,” said Loli Irigoin, executive director of the Spartan Foundation who also volunteers as a coach for the women’s team.

According to the Spartan Foundation, their program helps inmates get out – and stay out – of the prison system. Argentina’s national recidivism rates hover around 65%, but among those who participate in the Spartan program, the reincarnation rate is less than 5%.

The Spartan Foundation first took root in 2009 after Eduardo “Coco” de Oderigo, a criminal defense lawyer, visited Unit 48 and was inspired to create change after leaving with a deep feeling of hopelessness. A few days after his initial visit, de Oderigo returned with a rugby ball and began training a group of about 15 inmates, which would eventually become the first Spartan team, los Espartanos.

With the help of volunteers and donors, the Spartan Foundation (Fundación Espartanos) was officially established in 2016 upon four pillars – rugby, education, spirituality and labor inclusion. The program offers athletic training to both the men and women inside the prison, as well as robust rehabilitative and career services to ease social reintegration for inmates who are released at the end of their sentence. Today, the program is replicated in 21 provinces in Argentina as well as seven other countries around the world.

Though proven successful, Irigoin says the program was initially met with hesitation.

“The director of the prison said, ‘This is like throwing gasoline on the fire,’ right?’ They thought it was going to explode,” Irigoin said. “What happened was that rugby helped reduce the levels of violence inside the prison, because many problems that arose in the dorms were resolved on the rugby field. Instead of acting with violence, you make a tackle, and once you get tackled, that’s it, you’ve released your frustration.”

Now, the Spartan Foundation has found so much success that it’s even received the Disney treatment. Disney+ recently released Meet the Spartans, a new series based on Eduardo “Coco” de Oderigo and the original men’s team.

For many who go through the program, the bonds created extend far beyond the prison’s towering walls.

“I always talk to them, they’re always there, sending you a message, asking how you are, how your day went, or answering a photo like that. You know they’re there,” said Insegna. “The Spartans are my other family.”