Sunday June 18, 1922 was not another day in the history of Villa del Parque. A group of neighbors gathered in the waiting room of the Villa del Parque Station, of the Buenos Aires to the Pacific Railway, made the decision to found a new institution: Gimnasia y Esgrima de Villa del Parque (GEVP). At that time it was impossible for them to think that, on the same day in 2022, the members would celebrate the 100 years of the club. And that is what happens today, Saturday June 18, although in reality, the 100 years of GEVP are “all year”.
At that meeting, the Organizing Commission was appointed, which was made up of President Gustavo Laporte. A month later, at the first shareholders’ meeting at the Tinogasta and Llavallol headquarters, the statutes were approved and the Board of Directors was elected. Those were the beginnings of an institution that grew by leaps and bounds and is part of the history of the neighborhood. Beyond the members who passed in these 100 years, there were outstanding athletes and families who met and grew up there, with several generations that maintain the tradition of representing the club in some sport and being part of social life.
When it comes to athletes, GEVP is proud to say that it is “the club of world champions”, since the base of the Argentine basketball team that won the 1950 World Cup at Luna Park was from there: Oscar Furlong, Roberto Viau, Omar Monza, Raúl Pérez Varela and Jorge Nuré, as well as coach Jorge Canavesi.
Cestobol should also be highlighted, with several winners of the Olimpia de Plata (Graciela Cortazzi in 1977 and 1978, Cecilia Socías in 1996, Giselle Nisnik in 1997, Julieta Sardo in 2000, María Laura García, in 2005 and Florencia Paganelli in 2006), gymnast Eric Pedercini, gold medalist at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, and fencer Elsa Lidia Irigoyen, multi-champion from Argentina, gold medalist at the 1951 Pan American Games in Argentina and representative at the London 1948 and Helsinski 1952 Olympic Games.
Today, boys and girls who attend the club daily may dream of being like them: every December the “Ricardo Alix” award is given to the best athlete of the year, in recognition of the great basketball player who stood out with the Parque jersey.
GEVP currently has 1,500 members (plus a significant number of lifetime members), 4 gyms, 5 tennis courts, 2 swimming pools and other outdoor spaces, and is always looking to expand. Boys and adults have the opportunity to play basketball, volleyball, basket ball, tennis, rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, recreational soccer, jazz dance, rollerblading, among other activities. They are the pillars of the club to develop values such as passion, healthy living, socialization, friendship and become the third axis in the education of children after home and school. They wait for them, why, another 100 more years.
