A nurse from the Murcian Health Service (SMS), Mari Cruz Gómez, has been named Coach of the Year by the international organization United Nations Basketball (UNB). The award is a recognition of her ability to combine her work as a coach at the Molina Basket club with her work as a health worker against Covid-19 in the SMS.
During the pandemic, Mari Cruz Gómez worked in different hospitals and health centers in different areas of the Region. He currently continues to perform tasks related to Covid-19 in the Murcian Health Service. In that period of health emergency he did not abandon basketball and combined his profession with his passion for training.
The previous course took the 2007 Molina Basket women’s team to the final of the regional championship. In the current campaign he trains two teams, the senior female Bodytone MB and the youngest male Dental Clinic López&Sandoval MB. In addition to his work at Molina Basket, he is an assistant in the women’s children’s team of the Murcia Region Basketball Federation.
Mari Cruz Gómez’s career as a coach at Molina Basket includes titles in different categories, as well as several appearances in the final stages. The United Nations Basketball Organization defines the Molinense as “a model for players and coaches, an example of commitment and a true inspiration for new generations.”
The annual awards of the international organization United Nations Basketball have a social approach and especially value the commitment and effort in favor of the community through basketball.
Along with Mari Cruz Gómez, other winners are the Girls in Basketball Foundation, for its promotion of women’s sports in Somalia, and the Dunk Grassroots Basketball, from Ghana. The highest award from UNB as club of the year went to the Kakuma Bulls, who received an award for their work in the refugee camp in Kakuma (Kenya).
