ESPN BUILDS AND DEDICATES MULTIFUNCTIONAL SPORTS COURT IN ARGENTINA

Built by community volunteers and ESPN employees, the new safe play space will be the home of sustainable programs teaching young people job skills through sports.

Community leaders, residents, government officials, special guests and ESPN employees gathered in La Cava, San Isidro, on Tuesday, May 24, to participate in the opening of a new court space built especially for La Cava and its residents. The global project, which in just one month has seen court builds in both La Cava and Rio de Janeiro, is led by ESPN and community organizations, love.fútbol, A Ganar, and UASI.

The court and surrounding area, which includes a new playground and a refurbished park, were built and beautified with the help of community residents and ESPN employees. This newly revitalized space will be home to ongoing programming for young people in the community where they will learn job skills and be empowered to fulfill their potential, all through the power of sports. The program was developed by award-winning organization A Ganar, which provides communities across Latin America with training and skills that lead to employment through soccer.

Hosted by ESPN Latin America talent, Leo Montero, the event was attended by community members, ESPN leaders and employees, as well as government officials, including the Mayor of San Isidro, Gustavo Posse, and included cultural performances by local kids, as well as special recognition of community leaders who volunteered their time to the project.

“This is a clear example of ESPN’s commitment to our communities.  We are convinced that sports are one of the best ways to positively build on youth’s values,” said Guillermo Tabanera, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Latin America,  

“ESPN is committed to providing resources to kids in La Cava to play sports.” said Russell Wolff, executive vice president and managing director, ESPN International. “We are pleased to collaborate with love.futbol, A Ganar, and UASI to build this court in a community where there is a need as it can make a difference.”

La Cava is one of the largest and most impoverished areas of greater Buenos Aires with a prevalence of crime, drugs, alcohol, violence and firearms use.

love.futbol, which builds community sports facilities all over the world, helped to select the location for the new court, working closely with local municipalities, as well as UASI, a La Cava organization with more than 25 years of experience providing services to the community. The collaboration helped to create a true sense of ownership of the space by the community, enabling ongoing, sustainable and impactful use.

Participating Organizations

ESPN Corporate Citizenship: ESPN believes that, at its very best, sports uplifts the human spirit. Its corporate citizenship programs use power of sport to positively address society’s most pressing needs through strategic community investments, cause marketing programs, collaboration with sports organizations and employee volunteerism, while also utilizing its diverse media assets. For more information go to www.espn.com/citizenship.

ESPN Latin America: Launched in 1989, ESPN’s pan-regional Latin America network transmits to 19 countries and territories, in high definition, divided by North, South, Brazil and Caribbean feeds to better serve the fans in each region, broadcasting in Spanish, Portuguese and English. ESPN is currently available in over 39 million homes in the region. ESPN offers regional networks that include ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN+ Sur (Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay); ESPN+ Andina (Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia); ESPN Brazil and ESPN+ (ESPN HD in Brazil). In 2011, ESPN3 launched in Spanish-speaking Latin America, becoming the new, dynamic sports destination for the younger sports fan. The network is available via television, computers, tablets, and mobile.

love.fútbol: love.fútbol creates community soccer fields that act as community centers and catalysts for sustainable social change. They partner with communities to plan, build and manage low-resource, high-impact fields that encourage informal, creative soccer, act as hubs for social programs, generators of social enterprise and provide authentic, highly-visible touch points for brands.  They have worked in some of the most difficult conditions across Latin America.

A Ganar: Led by Partners of the Americas, the A Ganar Alliance combats youth unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean using team sports. In essence, A Ganar is a youth employment program wrapped inside of a ball. At-risk youth, ages 16- 24, acquire marketable job expertise by building on six core sport-based skills: teamwork, communication, discipline, respect, a focus on results, and continual self-improvement. In 7-9 months, youth learn life and vocational skills and complete internships with local businesses. They learn to bring the best values of sport and apply them to the workplace.

UASI: Unión y Amistad de San Isidro works to promote good values, provide health education and to encourage young people in the area to remain in the education system. A fundamental part of the project is building a sense of community for all the stakeholders taking part. The main objective is for participants to learn, live and convey values while taking control of their lives.

ESPN Biographies

Leo Montero

Leo Montero is a renowned television and radio presenter who, for the second consecutive year, hosts the show “Pura Química” on ESPN.

With more than 15 years’ experience as host of different successful TV shows, Montero appeared on the ESPN screen in several opportunities, like when he hosted one of the shows of the great coverage ESPN made of the 2012 London Olympic Games, and he also participated in “Hablemos del Mundial”, a show about the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan.

Born in Villa Carlos Paz, province of Córdoba, Argentina, Montero is a passionate basketball fan; after playing for several clubs, he became a commentator for the NBA on Space. He covered the last All-Star Game for Pura Química, where he interviewed Kobe Bryant, among others.

In broadcast television, he hosted the morning show “AM” for ten years on Telefe, plus another show called “100% Lucha” and several others; now he presents "Mejor de noche", airing on channel 9. He made some appearances as an actor too.

The impression of being "good people" that he gives off, together with his charm are among his most distinctive characteristics, as well as the warmth with which he interviews his guests.
 

Guillermo Tabanera 

Guillermo F. Tabanera is Senior Vice President and General Manager for ESPN SSLA (Spanish Speaking Latin America). He is based in Buenos Aires and reports directly to Russell Wolff, Executive Vice President & Managing Director, ESPN International.

Tabanera oversees all of ESPN businesses throughout SSLA, as well as the Caribbean; he is responsible for ESPN SSLA P&L and development of the strategies related to the core business, Advertising Sales, Affiliate Sales, Digital and Programming. In addition to this, Tabanera manages the Disney & ESPN Media Networks Latin America Group. This group is responsible for the distribution in the region of all ESPN television networks, and the Disney Channel.

Prior to being named Vice President and General Manager of ESPN SSLA, Tabanera served as Programming and Events Director of ESPN Argentina from 1996 to 1998. He was instrumental in the implementation and development of the Programming strategy of ESPN in Argentina. Besides handling the Programming purchase for the Sur area and occasionally for ESPN Latin America, Tabanera was responsible for the budget of rights and production, and forecast follow up. In addition, Tabanera served as Acquisitions Programming Manager for Telesport S.A. from 1993 to 1996 where he was responsible for the product Rugby.

Russell Wolff

Russell Wolff was promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president in November 2004. He has served as managing director of ESPN International since June 2002. He is based in ESPN International’s New York City headquarters and reports directly to John Skipper, President, ESPN and co-chair, Disney Media Networks.

Wolff is fully responsible for all of ESPN’s international businesses in over 61 countries and territories across all seven continents, which include partial or whole ownership of 24 networks televised outside of the United States, a broad portfolio of leading online and mobile brands and services, and radio businesses in five countries. He also oversees a variety of ancillary international businesses including consumer products, broadband and syndication.

Wolff first joined ESPN International in 1997 as vice president, managing the company’s business interests in the Pacific Rim. In 1998, he joined ESPN Star Sports, as vice president of programming and event management and was later promoted to senior vice president. Wolff returned to ESPN in 2000 as senior vice president to manage programming, marketing and the company’s businesses in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.