(Oranjestad)—On Saturday morning, the inauguration by the Olympic Committee Aruba (COA) of their new building took place. This event was attended by the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and the president of Panam Sports, Neven Ilic.
During the event, there was a sports fair where different sports clubs and organizations presented the different types of sports played on Aruba. This included bowling, taekwondo, weightlifting, chess, gymnastics and more. The president of the IOC passed by all the different presentations and engaged with some of the athletes and coaches there.
During the official ceremony of the inauguration, the minister of Sports, Endy Croes, congratulated the COA and all involved in this big accomplishment for the organization of inaugurating their new office. He expressed that as the minister of Sports, he shares the vision of the COA, which is the wellbeing and the development of sports and Olympic athletes on the island.
“Sports are a powerful tool. It is also a vehicle that not only drives good people in society, but also creates exemplary leader in the community and for countries around the world. That is why we as the government of Aruba support the development of sports in the future,” he stated.
“We are extremely happy to be here today. I stand before you with goose bumps, because we have waited so long for this office to be the committee’s official headquarters,” as the president of the COA, Wanda Broeksma, expressed.
During her speech, Broeksma expressed that their mission is to keep inspiring the athletes, federations, coaches and leaders, and to fortify the Olympic values.
Michelle Hoeverts, vice-president of the ICO and treasurer of the COA, ratified the happiness that the committee and everyone involved feels about the opening of this new office. “We had a dream: we wanted to make sports important. We wanted to give sports the value is deserves—not for us, but for the athletes. That’s why we do what we do.”
She explained that the COA was already situated in this building for 4 years, but have not inaugurated the building until now so that they can add an Olympic touch to the design of the building. She indicated that they have chosen the specific location of the building, because it is located next to a busy street and it is close to several schools and the national library.
According to Hoeverts, the inauguration that took place on Saturday was phase 1 of the project. Phase 2 is the construction of the sports museum so that they could invite schools around the island to visit and learn about the history and importance of sports.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are home; we have found our home. This is the home of the COA, this is the home of sports, this is the home for everything Olympic on Aruba,” Hoeverts stated.
During his speech, Mr. Bach took the opportunity to congratulate the COA with the inauguration and to remark that this will help the association turn a new page in the history of the COA.
“With this campus, the COA will be in a much better condition to serve the athletes, to serve the teams that participate in the Central American and the Caribbean Games, in the PanAmerican Games and hopefully, the Olympic Games,” he indicated.
He expressed that this achievement by the COA shows their commitment to sports and the athletes, who learn the value of sports and pay attention to all the important aspects in sports.
At the same time, Bach acknowledged the work done by the two females leaders of the COA—Hoeverts and Broeksma—and have honored them with the IOC Presidents Trophy for the sustainable work that they have achieved.
CAO was established in 1985, when Aruba seceded from the Dutch Antilles. Before that, Aruba was represented by the Antillean Olympic Committee (NAOC). In 1986, Aruba received recognition from the IOC and finally on Saturday, March 11th, received the official plaque for this recognition.
From 1994 up until this year, the office of the COA was located in the Guillermo Prospero Trinidad Sports Complex. This was an office in deterioration, just like the rest of the stadium, which have recently begun remodeling. For health reasons, the COA also took the decision to abandon the office in the sports complex.
