After going through several tests, Mateo Rodríguez was one of the Los Angeles basketball players chosen to participate in the selection of basketball teams from the National Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME) that will compete in the National Olympiad of the Commission National Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE) 2023 to be held in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico from July 3 to 9.
“It is a great opportunity. We are going to play with teams from various states of Mexico, and be able to go to other states to compete,” said Mateo, a 17-year-old high school student who has been playing basketball since he was five years old.
Around 20 young basketball players, children of Mexican immigrants, will have the opportunity to participate for the first time in the 2023 CONADE National Olympiad.
“It is a blessing. I am very grateful. I’m going to take full advantage,” said Samuel Acosta, a 16-year-old basketball player born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents, who has also been playing basketball since he was five years old.
“It means a lot to me because my family is on my side, and I want to make everyone proud, especially the people who have supported me and put money in.”
Completely moved, his father Rubén Acosta, originally from Hermosillo, Mexico, said that it is a great satisfaction to see his son go to compete in Mexico.
“His mother and I are going to accompany him.”
The young men were selected due to their outstanding participation in the César Chávez basketball tournament, held in March at Whittier College.
They are part of Raza Unida Basketball Club recognized for being a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting education and health through sports.
The Raza Unida Basketball Club was founded in 1996 by Zeus García with the desire to help children and young people stay in school through sports.
By participating in this national tournament, young people will have the opportunity to be part of the Mexican National Basketball Team and represent Mexico in international competitions.
In the U18 division, Matthew Rodríguez, Jacob Topete, Samuel Acosta, Damián Gaona, Bobby Reyes, Samuel Contreras, Marcus Sánchez, Peyton Guerrero, René Zamorano, Alberto Bravo, David Hernández, Shaun Stinson participate.
In division 1-6, there are Alex Criner, Alonzo Woodson, Isaiah Aguayo, Josue Sánchez, Marco Transfiguración, Anderson Pérez, Isaiah Durazo, Jonathan Mendez and Gil Martínez.
His trainers are Martin Flores, Robert Aguayo and Óscar Mendoza.
The Consul for Community Affairs of Mexico in Los Angeles, Luis Ángel Castañeda, said that these young people bring the representation of the Mexican community to Mexico.
“Her parents or one of her parents are Mexican. So they represent the best of both worlds, and for many, this trip to Mexico is perhaps the first they have made to the country of their parents.”
Alberto Bravo, another of the young players who are going to travel to Mexico, said that they are very happy to represent the Mexicans of the United States in the CONADE National Olympiad.
“It is a privilege to have been called to participate in CONADE.”
Raúl Macías, president of the Anáhuac children’s soccer club, said that the boys selected bear the responsibility of representing the Mexican community in the United States.
“After many years they were allowed to go, and they go to a beautiful state of Mexico. They have to enjoy and demonstrate”.
The Oaxacalifornia trilingual writer and thinker, Gabriel Martínez, who was the master of ceremonies at the event where the teams were presented at the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles, recalled that in the 1980s and 1990s, a group of countrymen to play basketball.
“Basketball was like a bond of friendship, where the native language was spoken, and one another understood each other. In addition to sport, it was a therapy that consolidated the bonds of friendship and the nostalgia for the terroirs”.
He said that in the 1990s, women began to come to the United States and join their families in OaxaCalifornia as he calls the state of California, although there were immigrants from all the states of Mexico, not just from Oaxaca.
“This is how this sport was consolidated, which in addition to being very healthy, served as the anchor for a ship. We are very proud of these young people, because they play basketball, a sport that united the Mexican diaspora by making them feel for a second that they were in Mexico when they had the ball in hand.”