In the midst of the disaster that reigns in national basketball and very particularly in the Big State, great news emerges: Chihuahua will be the headquarters of the Mexican Basketball Hall of Fame!
The above was confirmed exclusively for El Heraldo de Chihuahua by the rector of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, ME Luis Alberto Fierro Ramírez, moments before boarding a plane bound for the Mexican capital, where next Tuesday, June 15, he will lead the conference press release in which this great news will be officially and nationally announced.
“The Basketball Hall of Fame represents a great opportunity to recover a training motivation from our youth for our community. Remembering the great feats of the people who with effort and dedication have emerged triumphant in a state that has been characterized by great affection for this sport, always fosters a vision of comprehensive training, especially in educational institutions ”, were the first statements of the rector on the subject.
Behind this great project, people who know about this sport have joined and among them stands out the figure of Julio César Ortiz y Gallarza, secretary and founding partner of the University Basketball Fraternity, who for more than thirty years started the idea of not only to rescue the space that was taken from the legends of this sport in Mexico, in 1990, but also and with the support of the rector Luis Alberto Fierro, a new space was obtained to reinstall the enclosure in this Chihuahuan capital, specifically in the old Rectory building of the UACh.
“Our university is proud to be an institution that has been key in the history of basketball in Chihuahua. It will always be an honor to temporarily host a hall of fame for any sport, but especially basketball, with great characters who from our state have drunk the glory of this sport. We have the firm hope that our city will dedicate a space of great importance for this reason, where we can pay a well-deserved tribute on a permanent basis, ”added Fierro Ramírez.
For their part, Julio César Ortiz y Gallarza, interviewed by telephone from his residence in Mexico City, said he was very excited about this “dream come true” and thanked the rector for the gesture of solidarity that will make possible the return of the legends to a worthy space in which soon they will be able to be eternally exalted.
“Mexican basketball will be forever grateful for this kind contribution, from an institution that throughout history has shown us its selfless support for college basketball, basketball from Chihuahua and basketball from Mexico,” said Julio Ortiz,
Ortiz and Gallarza, today general coordinator of the Mexican Basketball Hall of Fame, tells on three dates, very distant from each other, how the idea has been developing.
“In 1990 they took away the Hall of Fame, which was located in the annex of the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City. From there the history of our sport was lost, when the local government concessioned these facilities to private initiative, which led to the loss of the valuable material and historical content of Mexican basketball, ”he says.
Then, 16 years later (2006), he founded the College Basketball Fraternity and the initiative to return the immortals to their niche entered “intense mode.” They begin to move the strings with many people and especially former players and players involved, until in 2016 the national basketball forums are organized, including the one held in this capital, supported by the UACh authorities.
“This year (2021) we turn 90 since the founding of the Mexican Basketball Federation and 31 since we disappeared from the Hall of Fame. To date, the authorities have not honored the Mexican basketball players who gave their time, their lives and their work with national, international and world participation, which raised the country, ”concluded Julio.
On June 5, Julio Ortiz formally received the space that will house the legends of this sport in Mexico, from the rector Luis Alberto Fierro and the general secretary of the UACh, MAV Raúl Sánchez Trillo.
The national presentation of this project will take place on June 15 at 10:00 am at the Sebastián Foundation, in the San Pedro de los Pinos neighborhood, of the Benito Juárez Mayor’s Office.
“The Basketball Hall of Fame represents a great opportunity to recover a training motivation from our youth for our community.”
ME Luis Alberto Fierro / Rector of the UACh