Tovar Sports Complex

Since 2005, the Santana Family has been working to make a difference in the community of Tovar, especially in the lives of its children. In 2006, the Santanas started a Foundation in Venezuela. The Foundation's mission focuses on helping the children of Tovar. The Foundation has distributed toys, provided assistance to the local hospital, given baseball equipment to community sports programs, donated Fire equipment, and lent their support to a myriad of local fundraising events meant to raise monies for the critical needs of the region.

The Johan Santana Foundation believes strongly in the lifelong benefits of exercise for young minds and bodies and intends to create a fun enticing center of sports activity for the residents of Tovar, Venezuela. The Johan Santana Foundation is in the process of designing and building an artificial turf baseball field with bleachers and lighting in the community of Tovar, Venezuela. The Tovar Sports Complex will provide an opportunity for the community of Tovar to introduce health and wellness programming to the children and adults in the community.

Benefits of a Baseball Field & Implementation of the Foundation's Goals

Physical fitness is an important aspect of any child's development and a necessary component to combat childhood obesity. A healthy body supports a healthy mind and involving children in a wide variety of sports and fitness programs has immediate and long-term benefits. The fun and satisfaction that comes with participating in baseball creates the foundation for lifelong healthy exercise habits.

In 2009, 29.6% of people over fifteen years were considered obese in Venezuela, according to a Euro monitor study. Latin America obesity rates are still below those of developed countries like the United States, but the difference will likely decrease over time.

Forecasts for 2020 indicate that Venezuela will have the third-most obese people in the world at 41.6%.

Through the Tovar Sports Complex, the Foundation intends to implement the Center for Disease Control's recommendations to combat childhood obesity, including:

1. Strategies to encourage physical activity or limit sedentary activity among children and youth,
2. Strategies to create safe communities that support physical activity, and
3. Strategies to encourage communities to organize for change in eating habits.

Baseball also provides children with key social skills. A child in an athletic program learns new physical skills, but also learns how to interact and relate to other children and adults. They learn how to be a team player, work together towards a common goal, accept defeat gracefully, and respect a set of fairly applied rules. Ideally, they should learn all these skills in a safe and structured environment.

A baseball field then becomes a natural focal point for a community. It creates an opportunity for community engagement and the backdrop and opportunity to introduce positive messages to the children, adults, and key stakeholders in the community.

The goal of the Tovar Sports Complex is to provide a forum for teaching the community about the physical and mental health benefits of baseball and general physical activity.