Lionesses seek location. Although this time, despite the enormous bond that unites them with Rosario due to affection and history, the city will not receive them. It is that the province lowered its thumb to the request that was made official over the weekend, because it is not a priority in the midst of so many problems that the Covid-19 pandemic attracts. Rosario was always close. And it still is, although without a quorum for this occasion. Although there will be some more talks tomorrow, the decision is made. It is a “no” that, of course, can be reconsidered at any time, but today, with this state of affairs and the increase in coronavirus cases, exponential in Buenos Aires and quite considerable and dangerous in the south of Santa Fe, it seems immovable. It is not to the detriment of Las Leonas, that so many joys generated visiting the city, but a strong consideration, measured, on a scale of values and priorities in the midst of an exceptional situation.
The rumor that Las Leonas wanted to train indoors had been getting louder in the past 10 days. After the Olympic athletes or those with chances to be in the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games were qualified to train, it was learned that DT Carlos Retegui had a clear idea: not to risk his players in circulation in the Federal Capital, going to train the National Center for High Sports Performance (Cenard), the usual home of the selected one. The Lions are doing it there, like other national teams and individual athletes. But the idea of the Chapa was (and is) to move. In fact, this was announced in a note to TyC Sports very recently, after the girls had the appropriate swabs and while they are in quarantine before knowing what the new horizon is. The first option was Mar Del Plata, a site that the coach chooses every time he wants to carry out a concentration. It was thumb down. It was thought of Santa Fe, in the capital, and it was also a “no”. Now the option was Rosario. And a new refusal. Will they go to Córdoba?
From the province they did not look down on the possibility of housing the girls for a time. In fact, the possibility that they did it in the new field of the Santafesina Association (water, one of the best in the region) and using the facilities of the capital’s Institute of Physical Education was strongly analyzed. With protocols already prepared, it was not a bad option. It was decided to wait a little longer and so, after that, which also coincided with the qualification of training for the Olympics and Paralympics in the province, Rosario emerged. The idea quickly caught the green light in the involved areas of the Municipality, but those desires collided with the provincial refusal. In fact, the Coastal Hockey Association, likewise, with little or no interference in the final decision, did not see it badly. If they adhered to strict protocol measures, if the team, as it was said, complied with the isolation in the Howard Johnson hotel in Funes, where they intended to stay, and only moved between that site and the World Cup Stadium, it was fine. As long as the sanitary controls on the campus, technical staff and personnel involved in transfers and court were frequent.
If there had not been a considerable increase in cases in the last week in the south of Santa Fe and if in Buenos Aires the peak had not soared as it did, perhaps it would be talking about something else in this note. The province is not amused to say no to the girls but understands priorities in a context that has other emergencies. The team does not even have, for example, a local player today, which perhaps would have imposed a minimum commitment to reconsideration. To make matters worse, on the same day that the order was formalized by the Argentine Hockey Confederation (CAH), Governor Omar Perotti visited the General Lagos toll to request a tightening of controls on income from Buenos Aires, to prevent the Viruses spread more in Santa Fe, not counting the previous considerations he made. The death of former socialist president Hermes Binner further delayed the matter because the party’s local leadership mourned on Friday and little else was of interest after the death of such a political figure. For tomorrow there is promise of some more talk between the local Sports Secretary and the CAH, but as long as the province does not change its mind, there is little to do.
Las Leonas’ bond with Rosario is indestructible. For history and for joys, in addition to the fact that the best hockey player of all time was born in the city, Luciana Aymar, who, along with Ayelén Stepnik, was also part of the founding team of the team that bears this name, back in the 2000. Since then they played for the first time a Champions Trophy in the Cradle of the Flag in 2004 (in Jockey) and then, since 2010, love did not stop growing. Champions in the unforgettable World Cup of that year (World Cup Stadium), Champions of the 2012 Trophy Champions and 2015 World League champions, not counting the successive occasions in which they got ready for other commitments, with friendly series included.
However, this situation is different, so exceptional that it only invites the very exception. It seems crazy that they should be rejected as a preventive measure and within the framework of other priorities. Still, from the CAH they have no rancor or anything like that. They understand that among the possibilities, a “no” was very feasible due to the emergency of the country and the world. They know that, despite having some clubs open and many activities released, each province must ensure its own. In the background, and while Las Leonas, like all high-performance athletes, are healthy, strong and permanently monitored, they fear that a case will arise regarding the selected team or the personnel assisting the campus and that it remains in the focus of the storm, in this “Famous” witch hunt and stigmatization that grew so much around the pandemic.
Rosario does not have community circulation of Covid-19, like most towns and cities in the province. The opening of several activities, including the possibility that their Olympians and Paralympics will train again (the swimmers, who are the majority, do it in the Provincial Club), made the eyes of the CAH rest again on a site that Las Leonas was feel barbaric. But this time it cannot be. The answer was “no”. If the frame changes for the better it may be overhauled. Although it is complicated.
Analysis only in the Cenard
On June 12, the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Nation released the DNU that allows Olympic and Paralympic athletes to train after almost three months of mandatory confinement. However, Las Leonas only went to the Cenard to be tested. Coach Carlos Retegui’s idea is to settle inside.
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