INEFI Inaugurates Community School Sports Center: A New Beginning for Student Sports
Santo Domingo – The National Institute of Physical Education (INEFI) has launched the first Community School Sports Initiation Center in the country. This initiative represents a significant milestone in the organization and development of student sports at the national level. The project was inaugurated with the delivery of the comprehensive remodeling of the Rafael Barias Club, located in Villa Consuelo. This infrastructure, which borders the República de Cuba Basic School, will function as part of the National Project of School Sports Clubs, promoted by INEFI under the model of open and active schools for the community. The intervention included the installation of a new multipurpose platform, ideal for the practice of basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer. In addition, three specialized rooms were adapted for key school sports disciplines. Among them, a combat room for karate, judo and taekwondo; an area for table tennis; and a space dedicated to chess. During the event, the executive director of INEFI, Alberto Rodríguez, highlighted the strategic importance of this initiative. The project seeks to effectively integrate sports into the Dominican educational system.The center will have the direct participation of renowned figures of national sport, who will be in charge of the different disciplines. Among them, the immortal of Dominican sport Ana Villanueva, in karate; Blanca Iris Alejo, in table tennis; and José Fortuna (Pancho), in basketball, along with other outstanding coaches. Rodríguez explained that the School Sports Clubs model will offer systematic sports training, technical support, and suitable spaces for the integral development of children and adolescents.“With this first school club, we are taking a historic step by uniting the school with a functional sports facility, organized and directed by professionals, so that sport is part of the day-to-day life of our students, beyond the physical education class,” Rodríguez expressed.
Alberto Rodríguez, Executive Director of INEFI
As part of the remodeling work, INEFI also completely repaired the perimeter fence of the club and installed air conditioners in the administrative areas, guaranteeing better security and operational conditions.“This club is not just a physical work, it is a model that we want to replicate throughout the country, where infrastructure, trained coaches, discipline and educational community converge, with the aim of training citizens through sport,” he affirmed.
Alberto Rodríguez, Executive Director of INEFI
