A bit of history…
In 2011, for the first time, with the collaboration of Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón (Albacete, Spain)’s Town Hall, we held the Olympic Games of Volunteering. These which were directed to all those people who are passionate with sports, who collaborate as volunteers in any entity, an who met the minimum marks required for the category they wanted to compete in.
These Olympic Games of Volunteering are held every two years, alternating with the Philosophical Pre-Season, which are also held at Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón during six days. The Pre-Season is an open event, inspired in Platonic education, where Music and Gymnastics are combined. Plato spoke about Gymnastics (from the Greek gymnós, “naked”) being a special ability within young people, who could develop all its purity, in a physical sense of decontamination.
And there was also the spiritual part, the music –exercise of the Muses–. Its goal was to conduct the soul towards Love through goodness, beauty, justice and truth.
Plato also though that there exists a big link between soul and body. Socratic thinkers said the body is a pot and the soul is the water that fills it, so it’s obvious that the water takes the form of the pot containing it. Thus, we need a body that is healthy in every expression, and we need a healthy life, a healthy channel so that the soul can educe each an every one of its healthy aspects.
In 2014, the Chief of the School of Sport, Francisco Iglesias, start transmitting this idea throughout other countries holding a similar wish. The first one to add to this idea was Brazil, which started developing works along the same line in the South zone. In 2015, 2017 and 2019, in Sao Francisco Xavier, Sao Paulo, they started holding Olympiads the same way they are held in Spain. The Philosophical Pre-Seasons are conducted in a very similar way. The work has reached 9 different provinces, integrating 27 different cities.
At the same time, Olympic Games are also celebrated in Brasilia, focusing the activity in the North-East part of the country. The Games there take place every year. The Philosophical Pre-Seasons also have a place, putting especial attention on the Instructor’s formation. Another country that has also added up to the School of Sports was Israel. The person in charge of it came to Spain to learn about the organization of the Olympic Games and the Pre-Seasons. He took this knowledge to his home country, where they have been working with different sports modalities since 2015. They will hold their first Olympic Games of Volunteering this year 2020.
Also in 2015, Paraguay and Bolivia designated managers who traveled to Brazil during the formative Pre-Season in Sao Francisco Xavier to receive formation. Since then, they have been performing School of Sports activities in their respective countries.
Other nations, such as the Czech Republic and Hungary, also started their formation in Spain in 2016. Since then, they carry out activities in their countries, and Hungary will also hold its first Olympic Games of Volunteering this year 2020.
In 2018, we had our first International Olympic Games of Volunteering, which included several countries. It was held in Spain, in Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón. It lasted five days and involved the volunteer work of many good people. This was the motivational factor for Ukraine, Russia and Romania to start a School of Sport. The Internationals Olympic Games are going to be held every four years, always in different countries.
In 2019, another activity was coordinated, but this time, 12 different countries attended the event. This was a formative Pre-Season taking place in Chinchilla de Montearagón. We had the support of the town council, which provided us with facilities. This time, two new countries added to the School of Sport: Austria and France.
