The Ministry of Education and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands held this Tuesday at the Elder Museum, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, an act of recognition for non-professional clubs and athletes of the province of Las Palmas who, for their sports merits, were deserving in 2024 of subsidies from the regional Executive.
The aid, which in the Canary Islands as a whole amounted to a total of 4.2 million euros, was granted through a competitive concurrence procedure from which 54 clubs and 108 athletes benefited. This amount represents an approximate increase of 20% compared to the previous year and is added to the other six million that the Government of the Canary Islands has allocated to cover the travel of clubs and individual athletes, both between islands and outside the archipelago, to participate in their respective competitions.
In addition to the economic increase, for this year, the processing of these aids has been managed in record time, ensuring that its beneficiaries access the amount earlier than in the previous period.
With this recognition, which will be repeated this Wednesday in Santa Cruz de Tenerife for athletes and clubs in the western province, the Sports area of the regional Executive rewards the meritorious performance of the Canary Islands representatives in national and international competitions of the highest level in different sports disciplines.
A necessary recognition
In the act, headed by the Deputy Minister of Physical Activity and Sports, Ángel Sabroso, all the clubs and athletes present were thanked for their efforts to take the name of the Canary Islands as high as possible, highlighting that this recognition is a way of thanking them for their work and valuing their commitment, each season, to overcome difficulties and fight, in the best conditions, in the most important competitions in the world.
For the Government of the Canary Islands, the promotion of sport, both amateur and professional, is "a priority objective, and since the arrival of the current officials, just over a year ago, we have worked tirelessly to strengthen support for our athletes, increasing the amount of many of the existing subsidies, and also creating new ones to continue putting our grain of sand to row all in the same direction, with the hope that it will result in greater success for all".
Essential aid
In that line, the representatives of some of the recognized clubs also expressed themselves, who stressed the importance of the aid from the Canary Islands Government to continue competing in the best conditions despite the distance and that the competitions are becoming more demanding.
Thus, the founder of the Akari Las Nieves judo club, Jorge Hernández, stressed that "thanks to this support, the Canary Islands clubs can enjoy good health and continue to dream of great results, in addition to guiding our young athletes towards the achievement of the challenges we set for the future".
An approach shared by Yubal Moreno, manager of the Rocasa Gran Canaria women's handball club, one of the most successful clubs in the archipelago and that, without going any further, last season reached the semifinals of the EHF European Cup, who expressed that the support "is essential for the daily operation not only of our club, but of all the clubs in the islands". Similarly, Moreno valued that "events like this are organized, because they allow the Canary Islands society to know how we clubs work and, at the same time, to know how the Government of the Canary Islands helps us", he concludes.
For his part, Eugenio Paulón, representative of the Unión Deportiva Taburiente, of field hockey, explained that the aid is "especially important to overcome the handicap of insularity, an obstacle greater than it seems", while allowing them to invest it "in ordinary expenses, which are vital in our day to day".
As a representative of the individual athletes, the swimmer Alejandro Rojas, who sadly was left out of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games by only five hundredths, recognized that "the aid from the Government is very important, and represents an essential support for the Canary Islands athletes". In his case, that "sport and swimming are my passion and my life", so this subsidy will allow him to "continue working hard in the next Olympic cycle, with the aim of being in Los Angeles 2028".
