Cear de Sevilla sees the light at the end of the tunnel and approaches its pre-pandemic normal. Facilities dedicated to improving the performance of high-level athletes in sports such as rowing and canoeing begin to operate at full capacity after two years of reduced activity. With a budget of €515,000, the center hopes to leave behind two consecutive years of losing resources It expects its income to well exceed €71,000 by 2022, as shown 2Playbook Center Director Rafael Baron.
The epidemic hit the center hard in March 2020, when the teams who were housed in the headquarters were forced to leave immediately. At the time, the activity was 100%, with 300 people trained at Cear and over 200 people staying in the residence.
The Andalusian government aims to maximize the sport that can be played in the La Cartuja complex. In this way, Cear will include triathlon and swimming among his disciplines. “We already have a swim lane in the river and by 2022 we have a goal to expand triathlon facilities,” Barron says. Andalusian Triathlon Federation itself, and Seville and Seville ADS Are the clubs interested in using the facilities.
The center took advantage of the interruption period forced by the health crisis to renew its equipment. The management of the house was taken over by the General Company for Tourism and Sports Management in Andalusia And they changed the holder of the restoration service. This last aspect meant a disbursement of 6.4 million euros – a 78% increase over what it was before the pandemic – according to data from the Andalusian government’s public procurement platform.
“We wanted to find a good bid for a catering company aimed exclusively at high-profile athletes and after speaking with Blume, Madrid CAR and Sierra Nevada CAR, we refined their bid specifications so that they were as demanding as they should be,” he says. Director of Cear of Seville.
Besides, the center made changes to the furniture to improve the accommodation of the athletes in the residence, such as the installation of mattresses adapted to the phenotype of rowers and rowers, and the remodeling of the residence building, which “was very old”. To these projects of conditioning and leveling the technical areas of the building must be added the renovation of the bathrooms, cupboards and metalwork that is still pending.
Regarding the financing of the Center, about 60% of its own resources are generated and 40% are covered by the Junta de Andalucía. To do this, they have tennis courts for rent, a football field and Albanian Race Course 2000m2 Where competitions are held. They also earn income from introductory summer courses in kayaking and canoeing.
Cartuja facilities remained closed until November 23, 2020, and since then have not reached these numbers again. After 2021 where average occupancy was 29% in 2022 They are found in a median of 85% with peaks of 95%. In fact, it was never fully filled again due to sanitary protocols forcing them to keep empty rooms in the residence.
The Andalusian facilities are one of the meeting places for the best canoeists and paddlers on the international scene. “From the Spanish athletes who train in the facilities and live in the residence all year round and who are our favorite customers, from November to April we are the main destination for all of Europe. The swords of these premier sports”, Baron points out.
During this season, teams from Hungary, Czech Republic, France, Portugal, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Slovakia, Denmark, Latvia, UK and Germany passed through La Cartuja. In addition to teams from outside Europe such as the United States or Singapore.
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