* A commission of Coldeportes will visit the island this Thursday to verify the sports arena where soccer, basketball and baseball are practiced.
* The management that is being done from the Government and the Departmental Football League will improve our sports arena.

In order to guarantee the correct functioning of the Erwin O'Neill football stadium, upon the arrival of the second division football professional team, the Departmental Governor in charge, Juan Francisco Herrera Leal and the president of the Football League of San Andres, Providence, and Santa Catalina, Lyle Newball Henry, met with the director of Coldeportes, Ernesto Lucena and his team, where they established the projects that should be developed to ensure quality football in the Archipelago.

"We were making approaches with Coldeportes on the football issue. There were some commitments, such as on Thursday and Friday to visit once again the sports fields to promote the activity, within the framework of the arrival of the second division professional team. Also, strengthen projects such as the change of grass and stadium lighting," explained the Governor in charge.

Similarly, the president of the San Andres, Providence and Santa Catalina Football League, Lyle Newball Henry, said that all this is being done to show the country that San Andres is the cradle of excellent athletes who deserve an opportunity to develop their talent

"We are talking about the change of grass and lighting of the Erwin O'neill stadium so that Win Sports channel can broadcast the professional soccer matches that will be played in San Andres. The result was very positive. Coldeportes will help us in this management and, most likely is that in the short or medium term, we can have LED lighting and we can change the grass that is currently in a state that most likely does not last more than a year," Announced Newball.

 Among the topics discussed during the meeting, was also established the possibility of improving the Maracana and Black Dog Field (El Guangaro), used by the team to practice and hold local tournaments.

"Next Thursday, with Martin Gomez of Coldeportes, we will have a tour in the Department. An inspection and visit to these sports field are going to take place. Later, we will start with the whole subject to make this project a reality, "said the president of the San Andres Football League.

On the other hand, the governor in charge of the islanders announced that steps were also taken for the basketball court. According to the Governor, it is of great importance to support the various disciplines to create a variety of high performance athletes and thus boost the strengthening of local capabilities to show sport as an option for young people.

"We were reviewing some projects for 2019. The important thing is that we must all be united for the development of the leagues to be able to further promote the dynamics of young people so they can practice more football and basketball," said Herrera Leal.

Finally, with regard to baseball, during the visit of the Coldeportes commission, stadium inspections will also be carried out to establish the needs of the fields and make the necessary corrections.

For this week, it is expected that the Governor in charge will continue to take steps before national entities to continue promoting the materialization of the projects.

OFICINA DE PRENSA Y COMUNICACIONES