“One day I woke up at night and said to myself ‘I want to do it in my country, in the city where I live'”. Pepe Snchez remembers well the moment when he no longer had any doubts, when he knew he had to take risks, go all the way with his project of creating a high-performance center in Argentina, specifically in Baha Blanca.. All for a dream that he had begun to have a couple of years ago, while he was going through his last stage in Europe. “In my life I have lived on dreams: first it was to play in Baha Blanca teams, then in the National League, then I went to American university basketball when nobody did… Imagine that I was 18 years old when I arrived in the United States with a bag and without speaking English, and at the age of five I was playing in the NBA. My life was made up of projecting dreams and I fulfilled them, one by one. And this has been one more that makes me feel very proud, which is as important as it is. to have played in the NBA or to have won an Olympic medal”, he says as he walks through the corridors of his chiche, the Dow Center, and looks around, as if becoming aware of what he has achieved…
On his way, which he walks daily, Pepe greets a couple of young people from Bahia, amateur athletes, who are going to the gym, and a lady who arrived early and is now leaving, smiling. A few meters away he comes across the bulk of the Argentine team that, for four days, concentrated in this magical place, as in the previous one of that world runner-up in 2019, now in preparation for the double elimination date that will begin on the 26th in Canada The brain of the Golden Generation embraces his chicken, Leandro Bolmaro, the jewel he went to Las Varillas to look for and finished polishing at Baha Basket so that he would later make the leap to Barcelona and, a year ago, to the NBA. Immediately he starts a brief talk with Facu Campazzo, the new link in the chain of top basemen that our history has had. “We are very comfortable. You already know: the place is a spectacle, it has nothing to envy to the centers of the NBA. Thanks Pepe“, he tells him. Che García hugs him with one hand and whispers in his ear “I congratulate you, there is no such structure in Latin America. This is unique, the best”. They say goodbye and, of course, Sánchez feels an inner pride. The same that his GD colleagues transmit to him. Once again he feels that everything has been worth it…
“We have had hard times, especially in the pandemic, which hit us and stopped the entire process. But we have found a lot of support, close people and private individuals, such as the Dow company, who believed in this. I knew this would take a lot of work and time, but it’s what I wanted. We are the product of this, my life and that of my GD colleagues has been this, wanting to be better every day. That is why I had this illusion of putting together a place like this, so that the path of development, of training, would be easier. So that our Selection does not have to go abroad to train in a quality place”, he commented.
-Some wonder why you invested in this, with the risk it generates, and above all having more profitable options.
-Look, I don’t know what the future is, this was not created with a business plan and we are still finding our identity, but it was my dream and materializing dreams in life is not for everyone.
-Is there also a matter of generating some inspiration?
-A little yes. We always hear that in our country it is not possible, that you have to go abroad to get places like this. You can here too, it’s the first thing you think when you enter the Dow Center. And that is the most important thing. What was done and everyone can enjoy it. That’s why we open ourselves to the community: anyone can come to the gym, or play basketball, or make a training plan. And the athletes are here, they are not isolated. Because what we want is to inspire, and what better motivation than seeing an elite athlete by your side. Ac come Lautaro Martínez when he comes to Baha. Or Rodrigo Palacio. Or Facundo Tello, the referee. And everyone talks to me about the atmosphere that is breathed. And they praise that it is a world-class place. But in Argentina.
-It’s like one more medal in your career.
-I’m so sorry. This is like being Olympic champions or making it to the NBA. The only difference that the other achievements are sports results and this is infrastructure. But it has the same value. That’s how I feel and my littermates tell me. We all dream of leaving something like this, a place where athletes have everything to be better every day.
Pepe has always gone for more, for what is different, for innovation. And the new step was taken last week, when the Dow Center received the LEED O&M Existing Buildings certification, an international sustainability standard that validates its contribution to reducing environmental impact, becoming the first sports complex in Argentina to achieve the qualification. “The building, in addition to being different from its conception because everything is connected, having the three courts as the axis of everything, is different from its construction, being sustainable for the environment.. We recycle rainwater and it has thermal panels that have allowed us, for example, not to turn on the heating or the air conditioning in the last year,” explained Pepe after the event that took place on Thursday. “It took us two years to achieve this worldwide certification. But it is part of the same thing: it proves that we can do something like this, creative and aesthetic, in our country and, at the same time, in a sustainable way. It’s setting a precedent,” he added on reflection of him.
The complex, which has a surface area of 7,500 m2, stands out for the technology applied in the building, with thermal insulation to reduce energy consumption. It has glazed surfaces for natural daytime lighting, a system of parasols that provides passive solar control and acoustic insulation, electrical devices with minimum energy consumption, a sewage treatment plant, with classification and separation of waste at source, and a system of storage and reuse of rainwater. It also has green spaces, such as an orchard complementary to the main building, and surfaces for recreation, art and creativity. With a special atmosphere, you can read, relax, play, do yoga or perform artistic activities. It has three training fields (with backboards, hoops, floors and NBA-level locker rooms) that, together, form a stadium for 3,000 seated people, the same one that allowed an open training session for the National Team that gathered 2,000 people on Saturday. It also has a hotel, departments for recruits, a dining room, administrative and coaching offices, a high-performance gym, a medicine and rehabilitation center, video rooms, a study, meetings and co-working spaces.
“In 2023 we will seek to continue opening ourselves to other events, such as recitals, congresses, talks, in addition to continuing to be a reference for various athletes and teams from different sports. The idea is that it be a multipurpose place, the concept that I took from my experience abroad, seeking to adapt it to the way of being of the Argentines.“, said Pepe. He reported that for now the final of the Buenos Aires Games has been confirmed for this year and a postseason is coming for a university team from the USA and the arrival of NBA Routs, an official campus of the best league in the world to promote the sport for boys and girls “We want people to begin to live more of the Dow Center experience, a complex with a versatility that gives it enormous potential”, he closed with the desire that other Argentines can also enjoy the latest dream that has come true.
