San Juan. – Víctor López, presidente de la Confederación Norte, Centroamericana y del Caribe (NACAC) será exaltado este lunes 10 de septiembre al Salón de la Fama del Deporte en Texas en reconocimiento por sus 26 años de servicio como entrenador en la Universidad de Rice en Houston.
Photo: Getty Images, Copyright
La ceremonia tendrá lugar en la Texas Christian University en la ciudad de Fort Worth y López será exaltado junto a otras ocho personalidades de la Conferencia del Sudoeste del sistema deportivo universitario de Estados Unidos, inscrita dentro del Salón de la Fama del Deporte en Texas.
“Quiero compartir este honor con mis ex atletas, el personal y la administración de la Universidad de Rice, quienes creyeron y me apoyaron mis esfuerzos al ciento por ciento durante 26 años, los mejores años de mi vida, cuando fui entrenador,” sostuvo López.
Asimismo “lo comparto con los entrenadores de atletismo de todo el mundo con quienes comparto objetivos comunes de desarrollar no solo grandes atletas, pero jóvenes para que sean nuestros lideres en el futuro, sin importar sin son atletas de clase mundial o no”.
“Por último quiero dedicar el premio a mi natal Puerto Rico y los miles de entrenadores que represento como presidente de la Comisión de Entrenadores de la IAAF. Gracias al buro directivo del Salón de la Fama de la SWC y del Salón de la Fama del Deporte en Texas por honrarme en esta ocasión,” añadió.
Desde su llegada al estado en 1963 tras recibir una beca como atleta para estudiar educación física en la Universidad de Houston, López completo su maestría en la Universidad del Sur de Texas y regresó a la Universidad de Houston para realizar un doctorado.
Desde 1979 pasó a dirigir el programa de atletismo femenino en la Universidad de Rice, cargo que ocupó durante 26 años hasta su retiro en 2005. En 1984 creó una competición anual que hoy lleva su nombre, el Clásico Víctor López.
En 2016, el dirigente puertorriqueño recibió el Premio por su Servicio Meritorio a la Universidad de Rice. Desde su retiro de Rice cumple varias funciones en el mundo del atletismo: titular de NACAC, la Asociación Panamericana de Atletismo (APA) e integra el Consejo de la IAAF desde 2013.
——————————————————————————————-
Víctor López to be inducted into Texas Sports Hall of Fame
San Juan. – Víctor López, president of the North, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Confederation (NACAC) will be inducted on Monday Sep 10th into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in recognition for his 26 years of service to Rice University in Huston.
The ceremony will be held at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where López Will be honoured alongside eight other sports personalities of the Southwest Conference (SWC), one of the four halls housed by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
“First of all, I would like to share this honor with my former athletes and staff at Rice University and with the Rice University Administration that believed in me and supported my efforts 100% for the 26 years (The best years of my life) that I was a coach there and with the track and field coaches from the whole world that I share the common objective of development not only great athletes but great young people that in the future can be our world leaders, no matter if they become world class athletes or not,” said Lopez.
“I want to dedicate the Award to my native Puerto Rico and to the thousands of Coaches from the world that I represent as the Chairman of the IAAF Coaches Commission. Thank you to the SWC Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors for honoring me on this occasion,” he added.
Lopez completed all his college studies in Houston, Texas, since he earned a track and field scholarship from the University of Houston in 1963. There, he earned BS in physical education degree and went on to complete a master’s degree at the University of Texas Southern, also in Houston.
He was pursuing his PhD studies at the University of Houston when he was hired by Rice University in 1979 to lead the women’s track and field programmed. He served as the head coach for 26 years, until 2005.
In 1984, he created an annual track meeting that it is known today at the Victor Lopez Classic. During his tenure, he led numerous athletes from the Caribbean and North America to the Olympic Games. In 2016, the Puerto Rican official received Rice University’s 2016 Meritorious Service Award.
Since his retirement from Rice after 26 years of service, Lopez has also served as the chairman of the IAAF Coaches Commission since 2005 and has been part of the IAAF Council since 2013. He is also the president of the Association of Pan American Athletics (APA).
Source: Javier Clavelo (CUB)