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Boys, girls and teens from Toconao benefit from professional soccer academy
The training academy is already in operation and working to improve local health and wellbeing. Based on an idea presented by parents of local soccer players, it is run by Sport Calama in partnership with SQM and support from the Andean Peoples Soccer Association (AFPA).
The Toconao Professional Soccer Academy was officially inaugurated with a ceremony at the town’s local sports facility. It began with a traditional community ceremony to start this new cycle on the right foot and distribute uniforms to the athletes for the upcoming season of competitions.
The academy will teach 70 girls, boys and teens between the ages of 4 and 18. They enjoyed their first practice session at the academy after the inauguration ceremony.
“I am proud to have this program here. It is an opportunity for everyone to continue growing and see each child’s talent. I like soccer and I would like to go pro,” explained Daria Sossa, a student at the soccer academy.
Francisco Novoa, another of the kids participating in the academy, said: “The activity sounds great to me. I really wanted to play soccer. I would like to and am going to get to learn more than what I now know about soccer.”
Alejandro Zuleta, president of the Andean Peoples Soccer Association, highlighted: “It is important to resume sports for boys, girls and teens. The project was underway before but, as a result of the pandemic, it never came to fruition. We asked SQM for help to pick up where we left off and finally were able to accomplish it.”
The Mayor of San Pedro de Atacama, Justo Zuleta, commented: “It is much appreciated because it is an activity that everyone wanted. And especially since it works to educate and train kids. We are grateful to SQM for breathing life into this tremendous project that is going to benefit not only the people of Toconao but also the rest of the district.”
At the activity, María Alejandra Zuleta, Head of Community Affairs for SQM Salar, remarked: “We are very proud to see this initiative become reality. It has been part of the dialogue and process of building projects together with the community. In this case, we worked together with parents and guardians. It is a great opportunity to strengthen integration, health and wellbeing and develop sports-related values such as camaraderie, solidarity, teamwork and overcoming obstacles.”
In that spirit, the SQM representative added that this initiative is aligned with the company’s corporate Sustainability Plan focused on creating shared social value and comprehensively developing neighboring communities with which it engages.
It is important to highlight that this initiative was achieved thanks to the effort and logistics of Sport Calama. Its Chief Executive Officer, Osciel Maluenda, said: “As a sports academy we contribute to the comprehensive development of boys and girls. Therefore, we are going to work on the soccer field but also will support the local school curriculum in collaboration with the parents.”
On the topic, Olga Salva, a representative of the parents at the sports academy, commented: “For us this initiative is very important since many local children are very interested in sports. That’s where the idea came from to support them as parents.”
Soccer is one of the most important sports in the area, with leagues for adults, five-a-side tournaments and a large number of teens, boys and girls that play it; this academy is an important opportunity to develop new and future athletes.