With a call to the university and the regional community to participate in the games of the National Women’s Basketball Championship of the National University Sports Federation (Fenaude), the event was presented to the press on Friday, September 8, in the “Meeting Room” gymnasium of Isla Teja UACh campus in Valdivia.
The championship, which will take place between Sunday, September 10, and Friday, September 15, at Teja 1 High School, will see the participation of the best women’s university teams to compete in the final stages of the event and win the trophy. The community can participate in this event starting Sunday, September 10th between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
The event, organized by the UACh together with the Association, will involve teams from 14 universities from across the country, from Arica to Valdivia, which have already completed their zonal classification phase. A total of 168 athletes and a 50-person technical and support team will take part in the event.
Presentation to the community
During the presentation, the director of the UACh Sports and Leisure Center, Sergio Cabrera, explained: “We have not held a national championship in our city since 1997, so today we are happy and pleased to be able to develop it.” 14 study houses come from the north – Arica – to the southernmost, which is us at this moment. Universities with high prestige in the field of sports will emerge, such as the University of Concepción, the University of Viña del Mar, and the University of Chile.”
Prof. Cabrera emphasized: “What you will see at each sporting event will be a nice challenge, so I warmly invite you and mention that entry is free.” It will take place in our gym at the Universidad Austral de Chile, therefore We are happy that as many people as possible can come. We recently had the finals of the internal leagues where the gym was full of students, so we hope to have the same crowd at a national event.”
The presentation was also attended by the coach of the UACh women’s basketball team, Andrea Bilbao, who recalled: “I played in the last national team here in my first year at the university and now, after 26 years, it is my turn “To take over the management.”. So it’s doubly worth it. It is also important that hosting this championship as a university also brings with it greater responsibility. In addition, it is a city that is very popular with all the other houses that have always asked us to organize.”
The coach emphasized that “we want to present our house, our gym, and also our organization and everything that the city of Valdivia gives for it in the best possible way.” Regarding the team he leads, he emphasized: “We have trained a lot, at least eight hours a week with a fitness trainer, and we also have the support of the University Rehabilitation Center (CUR) UACh and Catalina Camino, who is the kinesiologist.
For her part, the teacher responsible for organizing the event, Carla Salazar, assured: “As a team, we have been preparing for a long time for this great challenge of holding a university national event.” We receive support from other units; For example, we work with the communications department, which helps us closely with the protocols and the ceremony and ensures that they leave the best impression. In the heat of the south, we are the ones who welcome all the people who come here, namely 168 athletes. It is a large number of people, so we are preparing ourselves and also the public we will receive.”
Katiuska Marchant, referee coordinator, announced: “We will play in four groups; 2 groups with 3 teams and 2 groups with 4 teams. We have 3 days of intense competition with 6 daily matches, throughout the group stage and definitions to continue to the next stage, the quarterfinals. We will start this on Wednesday. The semi-finals and finals will take place later. It’s quite a large staff, if you count the number of judges, table officials, statisticians, reporters, and tournament directors, there are around 50 people who will be taking part in this tournament.”
Community work
The event has support from various units such as the CUR University Rehabilitation Center as well as a team of interns from the School of Kinesiology who provide support at the sporting event both before and after each game.
In return, the automobile company MG Autos de Valdivia, the official sponsor of this championship, rewards each outstanding athlete in each game and the ideal quintet. There will also be competitions and surprise prizes for visitors to this event.
