Maite Natalí Otaegui was 24 years old and had built in recent years two professional paths connected, in different ways, to the same vocation: caring for others and a commitment to her community. She was a football referee for the Tres Arroyos Regional League since 2019 and had also trained as a nurse.
Her death, which occurred this Tuesday as a result of a traffic accident on Constituyentes Avenue, generated a deep shock in Tres Arroyos. As soon as the news became known, clubs, colleagues and various institutions linked to regional football expressed their sorrow and bid her farewell through social media.
Maite Otaegui, a young referee who had earned her place on the pitches
Maite had begun her journey as a referee in April 2019. As the years passed, she grew within the activity and, according to the Tres Arroyos Regional Football League, quickly showed “vocation and aptitude” to serve as the head referee in different categories.
Currently she was refereeing First and Second Division matches, a responsibility she had attained after several years of work within the league.
Over the final weekend, just a few days before her death, she had taken part in two matches: she officiated as the head referee the match between ACDC and Unión and served as the first assistant in the match between Olimpo and Echegoyen.
Her career had also extended beyond the local league. Between June 2024 and June 2025 she was designated to officiate matches organized by the Federal Council and the Buenos Aires-Pampean Football Federation.
The grief of the clubs bidding her farewell
The news of her death prompted various expressions of affection in the Tres Arroyos football environment.
ACDC club decided to close its doors for the entire day as a sign of mourning and remembered Maite as a “friend of the house”. The young woman had been linked to the institution not only as a referee: she had also worked as a nurse during a friendly match against Olimpo of Bahía Blanca and had officiated in the Esperanzas Tournament and in Second Division matches.
Additionally, one of her brothers, Gonzalo, plays in the club’s youth divisions. Huracán also suspended its football activities “as a sign of respect and mourning” for the young woman’s death.
From Villa del Parque they bid her farewell with deep sorrow and remembered her as “referee of our league”, while El Nacional expressed its “deep pain and immense sadness” and stated that Maite would be remembered by all Tres Arroyos football.
Messages multiplied throughout the day, from institutions as well as personally by those who had shared matches, trainings and different moments in the sporting arena with her.
A second vocation: nursing
Besides football, Maite had chosen nursing as another of her professional paths.
She studied the Nursing degree at CRESTA, through the Southwest Provincial University (UPSO), and received her diploma in August 2025, during the graduation ceremony held in Tres Arroyos.
Her training had allowed her to combine two activities that were already part of her daily life. On the one hand, refereeing, where she had managed to become one of the young leading figures of the Regional League. On the other hand, a profession directly connected with caring for and attending to others.
In fact, that facet had also been reflected in her link with ACDC, where she had worked as a nurse during a friendly match.
A career that was just beginning
At 24, Maite Otaegui had ahead of her a career that was still in full growth. Since she began refereeing in 2019, she had moved through different categories, reached the First Division, and had the opportunity to officiate matches in competitions organized at regional and provincial levels.
Her death left a deep sadness in the football of Tres Arroyos, where clubs, officials, referees and players agreed in highlighting her commitment and her presence on the pitches.
The Tres Arroyos Regional Football League expressed its condolences to her family and teammates and remembered Maite for the vocation she had shown since her early years as a referee.
Only 24 years old, but in those years she had managed to build her own story within the sport and to train in a profession dedicated to caring for others. That is the legacy with which the Tres Arroyos community bids her farewell today.
