More than 300 students from the Liceo N° 1 "Javiera Carrera," in Santiago, participated this Monday in an activity led by the women's rugby 7's team the "Cóndores," which will be participating in the Pan American Games.
The players Gissel Castañeda, Daniela Rojas, Catalina Villarroel, María Teresa Marín and Beatriz Araneda came to the girls' school on the centrally located Compañía de Jesús street to teach the fundamentals of the oval sport to the students.
Alejandro Bacot, Deputy Director of Legacy and Sustainability of the Santiago 2023 Organizing Committee, was present at the event and explained the initiative. "In addition to introducing them to a new sport and getting them to go to the stadiums to watch the Games, we also want to motivate them to practice more sports in their different disciplines," he stated.
The athletes at the event were pleased to showcase their sport to new audiences. The experienced player Gissel Castañeda commented that "this makes rugby played by women grow, it makes us visible and is spectacular for the development of our sport."
Rugby 7' chilean national team performed an sports clinic. (Picture: Santiago 2023).
STUDENTS: "I LOVED RUGBY"
The Liceo N° 1 "Javiera Carrera" has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 high school students, a rich history that began in 1894, and outstanding graduates, including the former President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet.
The principal, Alondra Zúñiga, appreciated the possibility of having a demonstration of a new sport on their premises. "It is a great opportunity to have high-level athletes, to promote a healthy lifestyle and for our girls to have a reference in rugby, which we want to include in our program," she stated.
She added that "the sport is discipline and a great tool if one wants to form students who are responsible for themselves and their own learning." In the school, students currently play volleyball, basketball, table tennis, gymnastics and football, which are among the most popular sports.
For Javiera Stamm, a student in last year of high school, it was "a very entertaining activity, very dynamic and the ambiance was very friendly. I liked rugby very much."
Meanwhile, her teammate Constanza Becerra said that "I played this sport for the first time and I would like to continue playing it. I like football, but in rugby you can also kick balls.”
The "Get to Know Your Star" program seeks to link high-performance athletes with children and adolescents in educational communities, as part of the legacy and sustainability strategy of Santiago 2023, promoting the values of passion, perseverance and inclusion. Up to now, the event has been carried out in around 20 schools from Arica to Coyhaique.
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