Founded on August 13, 1910, the traditional Guayaquil Tennis Club is one of the most emblematic social and sports entities in the city. But his influence, in various orders, long ago went beyond the limits of the city to expand throughout the country. So brilliant is its history that several of the best Ecuadorian athletes of all time have emerged from its facilities, which is why the name of the GTC reached international resonance.

Leonardo Bohrer and Nicolás Lapentti, candidates to lead the Guayaquil Tennis Club.

Today the Tennis Club is undergoing an electoral process that will take place next Sunday, June 26, and the members will elect the board of directors that will take over the command that José Macchiavello has exercised until now. One of the lists that will compete in the elections is the one that has Leonardo Bohrer Pons and Nicolás Lapentti Gómez as candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency, respectively, of the institution

The couple that combines youth and experience leads list 3 and under the motto ‘Your club at the highest level’ hopes to be favored with the confidence of the members who will go to the downtown venues next Sunday (Avenida 9 de octubre and Lizardo García ) and the Annex of Samborondón, to be part of the voting that will begin at 08:00; Elections will end at 5:00 p.m. In total, 20 voting boards will be enabled for the partners, distributed in equal numbers (10) in both places mentioned above.

The two candidates spoke with El UNIVERSO about the plans they intend to execute if they are elected. In his resume, in the area of ​​sports, Bohrer exhibits having been president of Barcelona SC from January 2002 to January 2005. During that period the bullfighters were twice national runners-up (2002 and 2003). He is no stranger to management.

Meanwhile, Lapentti had a brilliant stage as a tennis player born on the clay courts of the GTC. Nico becomes sixth in the ATP rankings in 1999, and at his best he played the semifinals of the Australian Open, in that same season. In addition, he was an Olympic athlete (1996, 2004, 2008) and was a member of the Davis Cup team since 1993, his greatest glory being when Ecuador beat England at Wimbledon in 2000.

“We have the illusion of doing important things, such as a three-story parking building. Also the stadium that will be called Andrés Gómez Santos, for 1,000 people, new courts for paddle tennis, Beach Tennis, work on a dock for kayaking. With Nicolás we are going to put the club at the highest level”, said Bohrer.

“We are very excited to do things well. Who else than Nicolás Lapentti who is the one who manages the tennis of our club. We want to see talents such as Pancho Segura, Eduardo Zuleta, Miguel Olvera, Andrés Gómez, the Lapentti brothers (Nicolás and Giovanni), who have given us so much glory, “added the businessman about his project.

Meanwhile, Lapentti, who has experience as a manager because between 2013 and 2017 he was president of the Ecuadorian Tennis Federation, estimated that having been in charge of the FET is not an “advantage” when it comes to running for office, but rather believes it is a useful “experience of life”.

“There is no advantage. For example, Leonardo also has the experience of having presided over Barcelona SC, and in my case it is also positive to have traveled and competed internationally and to observe how the big clubs in the world develop. Having headed the Ecuadorian Tennis Championship helps to have a different perspective, to see things differently. What can be improved, changed”, said Nico Lapentti.

The Guayaquil native highlighted the work team that supports Bohrer’s candidacy. “It is very important because all of us who make up this list have an illusion and there are experts in certain areas on it. There are people who are passionate about soccer, about swimming, for example; and we must strengthen each sector and listen to the partners”.

Works at both venues

Bohrer took the floor to comment on what works the two venues of the Guayaquil Tennis Club hope to carry out if they choose it this Sunday. “Changes are needed in the center fields so they don’t flood, we have to make changes in the dressing rooms.” And in the order that is not specifically sports, he said: “We want to give members the best in terms of security and also in the gastronomic aspect, so that they can enjoy our facilities.”

The Bohrer-Lapentti binomial offers to recover the partners who, due to the coronavirus pandemic, could not paste their memberships so that they maintain their seniority. They will avoid charging, they said, “extraordinary fees.”

Lapentti was asked if the GTC headquarters in the center can once again be the official home of the Davis Cup team when Ecuador is local. This stated: “We have a regulation pitch that is the one at the historic Pancho Segura stadium (clay ground), but in case, for example, you want to play on cement, neither of the two club venues has a regulation pitch. They have to be adapted so that they comply with what is required”.

Nico also explained that “where the Davis Cup is played, it goes through the technical part. It is the tennis players and the coach who decide where to do it. For many years it was played on clay, in the Pancho Segura. It was played once in Manta because in Guayaquil there is no regulation cement court”

Once the electoral process is over, and the votes have been counted to determine the winning list, on Sunday afternoon the new governing board of the Guayaquil Tennis Club will be sworn in. (C)

List 3 members

Leonardo Bohrer Pons – President

Nicolás Lapentti Gómez – Vice President

José Jorgge Bejarano – Treasurer

Luis Rojas Bajaña- Trustee

Armando Arce Cepeda- Secretary

Vowels:

Juan Xavier Benedetti Ripalda

Maria Colonel Intriago

Tyrone Flores Peacock

Vivian Ripalda Santos

Eduardo Seminario Carrion

Viviana Parra Montalvo

Jorge Valero Guerrero

Xavier Jones-Pereira

Raul Ramos Buendia

Gerardo Peña Piccta

Ernest Amador Peters

Jorge Harb Viteri. (D)