Much more than sport | The Mail

«Don’t stop believing. Hold on to that feeling,” is heard in the chorus of a great song by the American band Journey. And that is what those who make up – athletes and technicians – the Haszten inclusive adapted sports association do every day, which is celebrating. Celebrates a decade of activity. It was created in November 2014 with the firm purpose of promoting sports initiation, physical activity and also competition in the group of people with functional diversity in Bizkaia.

This Thursday a gala will take place at the Miribilla fronton, attended by many of its athletes and families, as well as sports and social entities, institutions and their collaborating companies. Pablo Hernández, general coordinator of the entity, assures that “the idea of ​​creating Haszten arose from the need of some families of people with functional diversity to fill a gap in the sports and physical activity offer, at the associative, federative, and municipal levels. and educational, and to expand opportunities in these areas in a more professional way. The objective was to start little by little to cover that gap and concern from school sports. But it was not only about generating opportunity and a community, but also about doing it in a professional manner. This is one of the pillars,” he emphasizes.

32 people already work in Haszten. «It’s incredible, crazy. The tide has been very big. The emptiness was so enormous that we did not expect such a response. Now, we take care of what is created so as not to die of success. That is in our hands. We have put a lot of will into it. We want the foundations to be solid and maintain quality, personalized attention and close treatment to continue growing. We see that there is a glass ceiling. There is a lot to do in Bizkaia,” says Hernández.

Haszten first started with rhythmic gymnastics, paddle tennis and indoor soccer schools. Currently it already has 20 sports modalities. «Boccia, surfing, basketball, swimming, shovel, boxing, rugby, multikirola and psychomotor skills, fitness, bicycle (initiation and routes), athletics, electric wheelchair hockey, slalom for people in wheelchairs have been added ( time trials or races) or zumba. In specific seasons, such as summer, we do others such as canoeing, paddle surfing or hiking. We have managed to have amputee football and in the climbing modality we are now working to open a stable school,” he lists.

Responsibility

Pablo Hernández is satisfied with the task carried out by Haszten’s team because “society has put on the suit to attend to what was previously the right for a few. We believe that we must act and serve everyone, and society is improving in this sense. There is an implication on the part of many people who think: Let’s do something here! The clubs and entities come or we go, and we verify that there is good harmony and responsibility. And the institutions, to which we give support in a good way, are stepping up. They embrace the right of universal accessibility, to guarantee that any person with a functional disability can participate on equal terms in society. But this is a long road, we plant the seeds and some give results. Lasting ten years today is an achievement. With this event we want to recognize the work that is done by many people, and that other people and entities join this ship,” he details.

Official leagues

At the moment, there are Haszten athletes already competing in inclusive events. «We have a dozen services and programs detected and identified. Among them is the federated leg. We want to provide answers if there are any athletes who request to develop from Haszten. There are five modalities that compete in official leagues regulated by sports federations. We have about a hundred licenses in athletics, indoor soccer, basketball, boccia and swimming,” highlights Hernández, coordinator of an association that also carries out awareness programs in educational centers in the province and exhibitions and sports activities of its ‘schools’.

In total, they serve 721 athletes with functional diversity, both school-age and adult, among the twelve programs of their comprehensive action plan that covers five levels: Associative, Federative, Municipal, Educational and Therapeutic. Haszten believes in contributing through inclusive sport and clings to sensations. Don’t stop believing.