‘Let’s fight for the rights of children’

21/11/2009 13:58:00

“Sport is a tool of enormous power and strength for children, is a way to reach children like no other because it has no boundaries. Formational and educational value associated with their practice is not comparable to other educational paths.

In our family we have always been linked to sport, specifically basketball. Both our parents and the three sons we are, have devoted most of our lives to the sport, directly or indirectly. We both have the good fortune to devote to something that excites us, makes us happy, and which we do quite well.

The sport has taught us many things, has formed us as individuals and together with the education received by our parents and the school we attended, made us the men we are today. The discipline, learning to listen, sacrifice, teamwork, maintaining a healthy lifestyle in order to perform at a higher level, the desire to excel, competitiveness, communication and coexistence... are some of the values we have learned through sport. We also remember that when we were kids we used to be very shy and not very coordinated, and thanks to basketball, we have developed both physically and personally.

Another important aspect is that, as top athletes and a certain social recognition, we can use our success to promote sport and the values it transmits between the generations coming behind us. Whether we like it or not we have a great responsibility to children, since they take us as a reference from the closeness or the distance, so many children who dream of someday reach as we can get, as in the time we dreamed thanks to other athletes whom we admired. It’s something we live like a big reward.

The reality is that at the time when a child is practicing any sport, learning while he enjoys it, is automatically away from other activities not so beneficial for their welfare. Violence and drugs that today so many children are around is very worrying. Thus, the fact of giving a chance for children, the future of our planet, to keep away from all these dangers by offering a healthy and educational activity is of great importance. In life there are no guarantees that things go a certain way, but not going to stop doing everything we can to ensure that children everywhere have a good chance to have a better future. That is the goal of organizations like the United Nations Fund for Children, UNICEF, and this should be a goal for everyone".

Tribune published in El Mundo on 20 November 2009 with the occasion of World Children’s Day, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol, basketball players and ambassadors of UNICEF-Spain.