ESPN BUILDS AND DEDICATES MULTIFUNCTIONAL SPORTS COURT IN SÃO PAULO
Built by community volunteers and ESPN employees, the new safe play space will be the home of sustainable programs teaching young people employability skills through sports.
Community leaders, local residents, and special guests gathered in São Remo, São Paulo, today to participate in the opening of a new multifunctional sports court dedicated to the local community and its residents. The global project is led by ESPN and community organizations love.fútbol and Vencer alongside local organizations, EPROCAD and the University of São Paulo (USP).
ESPN’s German Hartenstein is joined by Ana David (ESPN Brasil, Legal Director with responsibility for coommunity engagement) and representatives from project partners, love.fútbol, Vencer and the University of São Paulo, as well as local kids for the offical ribbon cutting at community sports court in São Remo, São Paulo
The court and surrounding area, refurbished with the help of community members and ESPN employees, will be the home to ongoing programs for young people in the community where they will learn job skills and be empowered to fulfil their potential, all through the power of sports. The program was developed by award-winning program, Vencer, which uses sports as a vehicle to provide communities across Latin America with training and skills that lead to employment through sports and enables young people to achieve success in life.
ESPN talent, Juliana Veiga and Gustavo Hofman, host inauguration of community sports court in São Remo, São Paulo
Hosted by ESPN Brasil talent, Juliana Veiga and Gustavo Hofman, the event was attended by German Hartenstein, General Manager, ESPN Brasil; community volunteers who helped build the space, local residents and their families; ESPN employees; and community sports and arts organizations. The celebration included cultural performances, special recognition of community leaders who volunteered their time to the project, as well as soccer matches open to the community.
German Hartenstein, General Manger, ESPN Brasil, dedicates safe play space to São Remo community
"We are visionaries when we talk about sports. Working together with several partners, we identify a space where families, children and teenagers can play together and become active in various activities. It can provide a way to build values of citizenship and a better society. This is ESPN's goal to support and invest in many social projects in Brazil and around the world, enhancing the transformative power of sport”, said Ana David, Legal Director with responsibility for community engagement at ESPN Brasil.
ESPN’s Juliana Veiga joins in with cultural performance by local community
São Remo is a community in the western part of São Paulo, home to approximately 6,000 people and has some of Sao Paulo’s lowest rankings in income, education and health. love.fútbol, which builds community sports facilities all over the world, helped to select the location for the new courtbased on need, population and socio-economic status. The University of São Paulo kindly authorized use of the space. Vencer, in conjunction with Programa Esportivo de Desenvolvimento Humano (Prodhe), will organize sporting activities for the young people to enable them to spend less time on the streets and more time on the court. These collaborations have created a true sense of ownership of the space by the community, enabling ongoing, sustainable and impactful use.
Local kids take part in soccer matches on new sports court in São Remo, São Paulo
Project Partners
ESPN believes in the power of sport to transform lives and build communities. This project was designed to develop an opportunity for communities across the continent to gain access to places to play sports safely and receive the social benefits sports has to offer. The objectives of the project are:
1. Build a recreational space dedicated to sports that is open to all
2. Deliver sports programming to young people on the sports space that focuses on providing them with life skills and tools needed to achieve a better future
The project has been a collaboration between multiple organizations:
love.fútbol: love.fútbol creates community sports fields that act as community centers and catalysts for sustainable social change. For this project, love.fútbol managed the engagement of the community, ensuring that they were involved from the outset. They oversaw the construction of the sports space itself and helped facilitate local leadership and ownership of the space. They led on identifying the community for the project and facilitated the local partnerships that enabled the entire project to happen.
Vencer: Led by Partners of the Americas, Vencer combats youth unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean using team sports. For this project, Vencer is responsible for ensuring structured programming takes place on the sports space following the inauguration. Vencer identified a local delivery partner, EPROCAD, and will train them in their award-winning methodology.
EPROCAD: Founded 1985, EPROCAD started as a high-performance sports organization. in 2001, it was reorganized "To contribute to the social inclusion of children, adolescents and their families, through sports, education and culture, enabling autonomy of participation in society". EPROCAD currently works with over 1000 youth in the region of Santana de Parnaíba and other neighboring cities.
University of SãoPaulo: The University of São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution. It holds a high reputation among world universities, being ranked 51-60 worldwide by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Founded in 1934, USP is involved in teaching, research and university extension in all areas of knowledge, offering a broad range of courses.http://www5.usp.br/
ESPN Talent - Biographies
GERMAN HARTENSTEIN
German Hartenstein serves as General Manager of ESPN Brasil and reports directly to Russell Wolff, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of ESPN International.
Hartenstein is responsible for all operations of ESPN in Brasil, including sales, programming, production, marketing and business development. Hartenstein joined ESPN Brasil in 1996 as Chief Financial Officer, playing a key role in the growth of the broadcaster in Brasil.
Before joining ESPN, Hartenstein was the Chief Financial Officer of Handleman of Brasil. He also spent four years at Boehringer Ingelheim where he was Coordinator of Planning and Control and later a Controller of Veterinary Business Unit. After leaving Boehringer he became the Finance Manager of Tambrands Brazil, where he developed and implemented a new financial control system that helped in the recovery of the company's credibility. Hartenstein also took over the role of Controller of Editora Abril's magazine division in 1995.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from FAAP in 1986. In 1991 he completed his MBA at IBMEC as well as his EDP at Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 2001. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
JULIANA VEIGA
With a B.A. in Radio & TV in Anhembi Morumbi, Juliana has a relationship with sports beyond TV. Five-time snowboard Brazil National champion, surfer, she has experienced bodyboard, stand up paddle, physical conditioning and ashtanga yoga. In 2001 she did a pilot show of snow sports for Sportv; in 2002 she went to Bandeirantes where she anchored Band Sport News and Total Sport; in 2008 she started voicing commercials to Ogilvy. And in 2012 she started in ESPN channels. Today she presents Sportscenter 1st edition with Eduardo Monsanto.
GUSTAVO HOFMAN
Gustavo Hofman graduated in Journalism from the Catholic University of Campinas and in Communication and Marketing from Casper Libero in Sao Paulo. Before becoming a journalist, he played basketball for the Equestrian Company and the Tennis Club, both in Campinas city and played the Paulista Championships between 1994 and 1998. He began his career on websites and magazines in Campinas. As a reporter, he joined the Folha de São Paulo (a daily newspaper) and shortly after he was hired by Terra portal, in the same position. He joined the ESPN commentators team in 2011. He is an expert in Russian Football. In the 2014 World Cup he covered the German National Team. Today he is a commentator of Bate Bola Bom Dia and Futebol no Mundo.
ANA DAVID
Ana David is the Legal Director and is responsible for community engagement, ESPN Brasil. Ana Luiza Gomes David has been a Lawyer since 1993, and graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro ("UFRJ"). She received an MBA by Business School Sao Paulo, in 2011, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She qualified to practice US Law at George Washington University, in 2010, in Washington, D.C and received a Post-Graduate Degree in Telecommunication Law from UniverCidade in 2005 in Sao Paulo. She has been the Legal Director at ESPN Brasil since 2007, and also oversees the Caravana Project. Before ESPN, she acted as lawyer at TV Globo, Almap, BBDO and Baker & McKenzie of Rio de Janeiro.