With the objective of promoting, rescuing and promoting school baseball, and under the instructions of President Luis Abinader, the National Institute of Physical Education (Inefi) inaugurated this Tuesday the Sports Complex of the Juan Bautista Zafra Educational Center, in a ceremony led by Vice President Raquel Peña.
The vice president indicated that this work responds to the promise of President Luis Abinader to build and enable more sports facilities, and stressed that the sports facilities have a special value because the students of the Pedro Mir School, the Juan Bautista Zafra Elementary School and the members of the Norma Díaz Baseball League, in Los Minas, will practice there.
“For our government, sports are essential because they have the power to develop discipline, companionship and perseverance, values that we all need to achieve success in life,” added the vice president.
Commitment to sport
The executive director of Inefi, Alberto Rodríguez Mella, said that this inauguration reaffirms the “commitment to continue working hard to provide more and better sports opportunities for our young people”.
“I want to emphasize that with the effort and interest of our president Luis Abinader, we have been able to carry out this important work that has as its main objective to continue with the work of rescuing school baseball, promoted from the government in this eastern municipality of Santo Domingo, as well as throughout the nation,” highlighted Rodriguez Mella.
Likewise, the Inefi director pointed out that they are sowing the seed for a generation that will carry the name of the Dominican Republic on high, not only in the sports field, but in all facets of life.
The official also thanked all the engineers, architects and construction workers, coaches, teachers, parents and, above all, the athletes, who made possible the project that will have an impact on “a better and promising future for the country”.
He emphasized that the rescue plan presented by this complex includes five parks to play little league baseball, and it is a continuation of a project that already produced the renovation of the sports complex of the Oratorio María Auxiliadora, in the National District, and the little league and softball stadium.
The construction and reconstruction of this type of sports facility provides a platform for the development of emerging baseball talents, offering a tool to the educational centers and a space for the students to also have the opportunity to develop the “king sport” of the Dominican Republic.
Special recognition
On the other hand, during the ceremony, Mrs. Norma Díaz was recognized for her trajectory and hard work with her homonymous sports league.
“La Dama de Hierro”, as Díaz is nicknamed, is the first woman to form her own baseball league in the country, and started practicing at the age of 12, at the Quisqueya School, where she played first base and catcher, and has been a great leader, with more than 300 children in her league.
Julio Cordero, Vice-Minister of Administrative Management; Junior Noboa, National Baseball Commissioner; Andrés Liberato, Director of the Sports Department of the Mayor’s Office of SDE, and Rafael Manuel Abreu (Cucho), Director of Community Orientation, were present at the ceremony.
Attending the event were Elvis Duarte, Vice Minister of Sports; Franklin Duval, Deputy Director of Inefi; Cesar Ruiz, Financial and Administrative Director; Eddy Gonzalez, Technical Director; Joel Lithgow, Director of the New York Yankees Latin America Academy; and Major League Baseball players, Michael Martinez and Enny Romero, among other special guests.
Source:Presidencia.gob.do
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