Gyms start

The Office of the Mayor of Barranquilla, through its Minister of Recreation and Sports, returns with its flagship program: Sports Training Schools.

On this occasion, children between the ages of 6 and 15 (depending on the sport) will have the opportunity to register for free in one of the 16 disciplines offered by the district, with a total of 4,500 places available.

“We must continue this effort. We try to bring children and young people to a better port. Although we still have a long way to go, we can say that what is happening in Barranquilla is not happening in many parts, not only in Colombia but in the world,” said Mayor Jaime Pumarejo, who co-led the presentation for this 2023. with the district sports secretary, Gabriel Berdugo.

“Today we have gyms, but also clubs and many parks where children can train and make their dreams come true. Complement this sports and cultural training with a technical and university education that we did not have before” added the president.

The offer is open to children to choose between these 16 sports: Athletics, Weights, Table Tennis, Karate, BMX, Skateboarding, Football, Baseball, Futsal, Volleyball, Basketball, Swimming, Tennis, Skating, Boxing and the entry of Handball this time .

“We are happy because our flagship program is back, which is led by our General Coordinator, Adel Rodríguez, who has a specialized work team in each discipline where we not only try to teach the development of the sport, but also ensure the comprehensive training of children, which is most important for their growth as citizens,” said Recreation and Sports Minister Gabriel Berdugo Peña.

Each sport has a coordinator who oversees the work of the coaches, including Roberto Bruno in Futsal, technical director of the national team, and Tomás Díaz in Basketball, seven-time champion with Titanes de Barranquilla. Also other teachers who have been coaches of great world champions in their different disciplines such as Orlando Pineda in Boxing, Alex Cujavante (father) in Skating or Hernán Guarín in BMX.

The list is completed by highly experienced coaches such as Alberto Peláez in Soccer; Gustavo Martinez in Volleyball; Francisco Garcia in Baseball; Carmen Frieri in Swimming; Juan Pablo Cohen in Tennis; Aymer Castillo in Athletics; Guiomar Peralta in Karate; Mario Moreno in Weights; Eduardo Castillo in Table Tennis; Alejandro Galindo in skateboarding and Alfonso Barranco in handball.

“Being an athlete doesn’t make you a better professional or a professional overnight. Maybe not everyone will become the best at sports, but they will definitely be better people,” said Pumarejo.

“Sport is discipline, it is perseverance, it is learning that I work today to see the fruits tomorrow. This project allows us to identify talents who go on to become world-class athletes. Every day we have to strengthen the sport more,” he concluded.

It is worth noting that the four types of swimming continue: diving, artificial swimming, water polo and swimming in races, which were very well received last year.

Classes take place at the 5 locations, in 36 locations between parks and sports venues in the city.