Laureus Sport for Good Foundation

NATIONAL
FOUNDATION
REPORT
10
During a year of steady growth the Foundation
continued to support West City (Club Ciudad
Oeste) in Mendoza, Unión y Amistad en San
Isidro in Buenos Aires, and Deportivo Barracas
in General La Madrid, Buenos Aires.
Fundación Laureus Argentina continued to support Ciudad Oeste in
Mendoza through activities such as football and hockey which address
crime, vandalism and drugs amongst disadvantaged young people in the
slum of La Favorita. Complementary activities such as theatre and cooking
classes have also been added. West City was visited by Laureus World
Sports Academy member Hugo Porta in November. He hosted participants
from this project in Buenos Aires several times during the year, providing
them with an unforgettable experience.
Based in General La Madrid, in the province of Buenos Aires, Deportivo
Barracas gives hundreds of children the opportunity to combine sporting
activities, educational workshops, music and dance. The children’s
neighbourhood is characterised by very low school attendance, widespread
physical abuse, crime and drugs. Project activities transmit essential values
to the youngsters and provide them with tools to create a better life for
themselves. The success of this project is guaranteed by the effort and
involvement of the entire community. Porta and Ana Lia Santarelli attended
the launch of a new library, computer lab and First Aid centre in February. They
were joined by special guests and important members of the community.
The Foundation also supported a special Hockey Sevens event which was
organised by the San Isidro project to promote the values learnt through
sport, instead of simply promoting competitiveness. Points were awarded
for participating, winning, drawing or loosing, as well as for fair play,
companionship and respect for your adversary.
Expanding on social development through sport, Fundación Laureus
Argentina provided training on how to address social issues through sport
to new projects in the province of Salta, and in Laprida, a very small town
in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. The Foundation seeks to strengthen the
project network by promoting coaches and methodology exchanges amongst
projects. The Foundation manager attended the Role Models Retreat hosted
by the South African Foundation. This was a very interesting and fruitful
experience and we will strive to share and implement the methodologies used
by the supported projects in South Africa during 2008.
The Foundation hosted its annual fund-raising polo match in late June at
the Ham Polo Club in London for much-needed funds. This event was made
possible through the invaluable support of Friends & Ambassadors Eduardo
Heguy and Adolfo Cambiaso, who invited some of the best polo players in the
world to the event, and the support of IWC Schaffhausen and ICAP as event
sponsors. We were honoured to have Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker and
Daley Thompson in attendance. The funds raised have been used to continue
with the expansion of our work.
L A U R E U S S P O R T F O R G O O D F O U N D A T I O N A N N U A L R E V I E W