The National Directorate of the Institute for Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (INDER) began a tour around the country on Tuesday, divided into four working groups, which has as a fundamental objective to evaluate the preparations for the restart and start of the face-to-face activities of the school year, as well as the issue of recovery of sports facilities.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- The vice president of the organization, Omar Venegas Echemendía, verified the actions that are being undertaken in Las Tunas before receiving the student-athletes.

In the morning, he exchanged with the workers of the Julio Antonio Mella Stadium, those of the Provincial Center of Sports Medicine, the School of Physical Education Teachers, and the Teaching Unit 1, where the Olympic swimming pool and the athletics track are located.

In the afternoon, Venegas Echemendía spoke with the professors and students of the Carlos Leyva Sports Initiation School (EIDE), which will begin the next school term with 700 students in 29 sports, growing in three disciplines, compared to the previous year: sailing, badminton, and table tennis.

In this regard, the director of the center, Jorge Luis Rodríguez Stevens, told Radio Rebelde that all the conditions are created to have a successful school year. "The school is ready for this important event; the sanitation actions have been carried out, as well as maintenance in the sports and teaching areas, the dormitories, and the kitchen-dining room.

Rodríguez Stevens assured that they have guaranteed teaching coverage for the course that will start in Las Tunas in the first half of November. "The only situation we have is with the two twelfth-grade groups, we need three teachers to solve this situation. Otherwise, we have no problems getting our students to receive all the subjects."

Given the complex situation that the Las Tunas territory is experiencing with the COVID-19, the Provincial Directorate of Sports and Education has as a priority strict compliance with hygienic measures. "There is already an experience with the issue of confronting the pandemic; we have the Sports Medicine Center that has supported us in this battle to confront it."

The director of the Las Tunas EIDE acknowledged that the province has a difficult situation with sports facilities. "It is no secret to anyone that, in terms of facilities, we are not among the best provinces in the country. The swimming pool is closed but we look for alternatives, and we have good results in swimming. The track is in poor condition and this prevents us to have better results in athletics. Nor do we have a hint for cycling development.”

Jorge Luis Rodríguez stated that in the upcoming National School Games, they intend to be among the top ten provinces of the country. "In recent years, we have occupied the 14th place; in 2020 we improved from the place 15 to the 9th in baseball, the 7th in handball, and the 10th in school football, respectively. We will see now, with the completion of the competitions in all sports, what results we can achieve, but we have worked to make that leap in quality.”