Futbolito Bimbo, the largest social-responsibility initiative of Grupo Bimbo
Grupo Bimbo launches the 2019 edition of Futbolito Bimbo youth soccer league, the company’s largest social-responsibility initiative. Ever since the league began more than 55 years ago, Futbolito Bimbo’s main goal has been to promote comprehensive childhood development, encouraging physical activity combined with studying and proper nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle, and to involve families and communities around the country in promoting, through sports, values such as teamwork, respect, responsibility, tolerance and team spirit.
More than 58,000 boys and girls from 3,200 schools took part in the 2018 Futbolito Bimbo youth soccer program, totaling 110,000 hours of physical activity and more than 6,000 “green cards” issued to players.
The 2019 tournament, from April 6 to July 21, will consist of four stages with an estimated 70,000 boys and girls from public and private schools in 45 cities and towns in Mexico’s 32 states.
To allow more children to participate this year, new subsidiary venues have been opened, expanding from the previous 45 venues to now offer 64 subvenues, while increasing the number of participants per team from 12 to 14.
The 2019 Futbolito Bimbo launch event featured Hanna Woloski, Technical Secretary of the Department of Public Education; Sergio Monroy Collado, Assistant General Manager of the National Sports Commission; Rodrigo Dosal Ulloa, General Manager of the Mexico City Sports Institute; Carlos Alberto Acra, Director of the Mexico State branch of the National Sports Institute (EDOMEX); Dr. José Amado Aguilar Argüelles, President of the Mexican Sports Confederation; Leonardo Cuellar, Technical Director of the Club América women’s soccer club; and Mónica Vergara, Technical Director of the U-17 Women’s National Team.
José Luis Leyva, Global VP of Communications for Grupo Bimbo, said during the launch event, “Grupo Bimbo is firmly committed to the well-being of the people in the communities where we operate. This is why we’re so excited to see more girls and boys take part in Bimbo’s youth soccer league each year, in a tournament designed to foster values through sports, which helps promote comprehensive childhood development in Mexico.”
In turn, Hanna Woloski, Technical Secretary of Public Education, observed, “It’s very important for us to take part in this great project, and help strive to meet and exceed this goal by getting more schools and more children involved. The Department of Public Education supports encouraging daily sports activities, to plant these seeds in children that will make them better citizens. For us, fostering physical activity in children and schools is a vital issue, and an essential part of education,” Ms. Woloski emphasized.
One notable aspect of Futbolito Bimbo is the issuing of positive-reinforcement Green Cards (Tarjeta Verde, reforzamiento positivo®), created by Proyecto Cantera, a nonprofit organization devoted to building life skills and healthy behaviors through soccer. These cards are a tool used by referees throughout the tournament to reward and promote positive behavior on and off the field, since it recognizes commendable behavior not only by participants but also the various members of the teams’ support staff and the children’s family members.
Key tournament dates:
* 4 Stages of the tournament
- Local Stage - April 6 to June 2
- State Stage - June 8 and 9
- Regional Stage - June 15 and 16
- National Stage of qualifying rounds - July 16 to 19
* Camp from July 10 to 14
- For the 16 winning teams from both divisions of the regional stage
* National Grand Final - July 21
Prize for the National Champions in both divisions:
All-expenses-paid trip to Orlando, Florida, to visit the theme parks.
For more information on Futbolito Bimbo youth soccer and the signup process for interested schools, visit www.futbolitobimbo.com.mx
