The dream of a Sports Center in the heart of Ward 31 became a reality this Tuesday, with the inauguration of the property that was given the joint name of Padre Mugica-Lucía Cullen Sports Center, in the middle of a “festival” of different sports disciplines starring dozens of boys and girls of different ages.
Under the huge covered space, a group of girls “put on” boxing gloves and in a makeshift ring on a rubber mat, they “played” to fight to reach an end, always with two winners.
Further on, another small group practiced Taekwondo, while some more girls did exercises between cones and fixed stairs, all before the attentive gaze of supervisors who happily accompanied the fun of the little ones.
In an adjoining area, also indoors, the basketball court was the scene of an intensive practice of girls and boys who, despite their low height, made an effort to place the ball in the hoop.
Recreation was the common name, here and beyond, on the soccer field that, with an almost impeccable turf, received the girls’ bullfights, divided into two teams, perfectly equipped.
“This is a dream come true“Mónica Santino, in charge of the women’s soccer team and one of the promoters of this project, finally materialized, told Télam.
“I remember how it was that the then minister Mario Meoni saw this property, while touring the area to install a vaccination center and care center at the moment of greatest impact of the pandemic,” said Monica.
“Then, speaking with him, we came up with the possibility that this, which was a wasteland, with unused railway spaces and falling walls, could be transformed into something useful for the community,” he said.
Monica went on to explain that “with the help of Senator Mariano Recalde We moved forward and on June 19, 2020, the day after my birthday, Meoni came here to formally hand over the place to us”.
“From there, we began to work with the people of the railway and they were interpreting everything that I asked of them, depending on the needs of the place so that it could be used by the boys and girls of the neighborhood”, he reviewed.
“Today I see it finished and I really feel enormous satisfaction and great gratitude to Meoni, first of all, and to the current authorities who have made it possible for the project not to fall and end up becoming this,” he concluded.
The boys and girls run around, oblivious to the movement of the officials, they intermingle in the route by bouncing the basketball, or running after the soccer ball, unconcerned about any protocol.
“I’m learning to play basketball,” said a little girl of just seven years old, named Ludmila, as she vainly tried to get the ball to the hoop, until a slightly older classmate confided in her a “secret” to be able to raise the ball and thus achieve a much closer aim.
Fabiana, meanwhile, showed her skills on the pitch, clad in a pink bib, in the framework of an “intense” match with a somewhat permissive “referee”, who “turned a blind eye” to some plays “out of regulation “.
On the basketball court, Joaquín along with a group of several boys, dressed in red and black vertical striped jackets, played a “match” played alone in the middle of the court, while the girls practiced on the other side.
“This is always like this,” warned one of the older girls. “It’s not just because the officials are here. We can come here to practice sports without problems at any time,” he asserted.
“We came to the heart of a railway neighborhood to integrate women, family, culture, sports, boys and girls and also adults with a new space open to the community, an achievement for all the neighbourhood,” said the Minister of Transport, alexis warrior.
And he remarked: “It must be emphasized that it was concretized by interministerial and interdisciplinary work, where, through joint work through the Ministries of Transport, Sports and Women, Gender and Diversity, we interact to make this reality possible. , and finally through Trenes Argentinos we have materialized it and today it comes to life”.
Beside @AlexisGuerrera Y @MatiasLammens In CABA, we inaugurated the Lucía Cullen-Padre Mugica Sports Center, a new sports and educational center created to promote gender equality and to guarantee the right to play and recreation for the boys and girls of the neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/YFhG3Pd4HP
— Eli Gomez Alcorta (@EliGAlcorta) February 1, 2022
In the same sense, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Matthias Lammens, who alluded to “this work is a turning point for many neighborhood boys and girls. It is an immense joy that they can have a place to play sports and feel it as their own”.
At the same time the minister Elizabeth Gomez Alcorta, emphasized that “with spaces like the Lucía Cullen Sports Center we conquer the right to enjoy. That is the State that we want to be and that we are rebuilding, one that claims the right to play for everyone and that generates opportunities for that possible in every corner of the country”.
“Today is a very happy day. I want to remember Mario Meoni, who when there was more uncertainty, approached Villa 31, and he came up with the idea of giving this property a function, like the one we are announcing now”, were the words of the national senator, Mariano Recalde.
Beside @MatiasLammens, @EliGAlcorta Y @MartinMarinucci We inaugurated the new “Lucía Cullen – Padre Mugica” Sports Center at the Saldías Premises of the Belgrano Norte Railway, which will benefit more than 40,000 residents of the neighborhood.#ReconstructionArgentina⬆️ pic.twitter.com/JkRQxt4gQt
– Alexis Guerrera (@AlexisGuerrera) February 1, 2022
The works included the enhancement, expansion, refurbishment and refunctionalization of the old Taller Saldías railway building, to convert it into an educational and sports center, a new space that has three clearly differentiated sectors: one covered under a slab and closed that houses two classrooms workshop, administration, storage, buffet, toilets, bathrooms for people with reduced mobility and multipurpose areas.
In addition, it has a semi-covered space under a parabolic trough that houses a multipurpose court and restrooms, while, outside, the existing building was restored and renovated, construction and repair of interior and exterior walls, construction of flooring and a court. of lawn
