Club Gimnasia y Esgrima de Comodoro Rivadavia is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

club based in the city of

Comodoro Rivadavia Comodoro Rivadavia () is a city in the Patagonian province of Chubut in southern Argentina, located on the San Jorge Gulf, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of the Chenque Hill. Comodoro Rivadavia is the most important city of the San ...

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...

. The basketball team currently plays in the

Liga Nacional de Básquet The Liga Nacional de Básquet (abbreviated LNB, and literally in English, "National Basketball League"), also commonly referred to as "La Liga de Básquet" ("The Basketball League"), is the top-tier level of the Argentine basketball league system ...

, the top level of the Argentine league system. Its home arena is the

Estadio Socios Fundadores The Estadio Socios Fundadores is an indoor arena in Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina which was opened in 1985. It is primarily used for basketball and is the home arena of Gimnasia y Esgrima de Comodoro Rivadavia Club Gimnasia y Esgrima de Comodo ...

History

A group of inhabitants of

(most of them with

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

ancestors) established Club Gimnasia y Esgrima on February 13, 1919. Eloy Cánovas was elected president of the club although the club was registered 20 years later. At the beginning, Gimnasia was a social club rather a sports institution. Gimnasia was first based on España street, moving then to San Martín street of the same city. Gimnasia y Esgrima organized the traditional "Maratón de los Barrios" (Marathon of the neighborhoods) for the first time in 1942. This competition was one of the most notable

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

events in Comodoro Rivadavia. The club was also a tennis pioneer in the city, apart from many sports activities hosted by the club, such as

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

, roller hockey,

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. The club inaugurated its headquarters on San Martín street in 1953, being erected for over 50 years. Due to serious economic problems, Gimnasia had to sell the building in 1994, causing that all the sports departments of the club (with the exception of basketball) were closed. Basketball began to be practised at Gimnasia in 1930. The club won its first Chubut Basketball Federation championship in 1941. The club later registered to

Liga Nacional de Básquetbol Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga ...

where it still competes. In 1985 Gimnasia y Esgrima inaugurated its own stadium, named "Socios Fundadores" (Founding Members). Four years later Gimnasia won the second division title, therefore promoting to the top level, just two weeks before the end of the championship. During the 1992–93 season Gimnasia y Esgrima (coached by

León Najnudel León David Najnudel (14 July 1941 – 22 April 1998) was an Argentine professional basketball player and basketball coach, and the main driving force in the creation of the Liga Nacional de Básquet, the first nationwide yearly professional bask ...

) finished 4th in the Liga Nacional. Another great campaign was in the 1999–00 season when the team finished 3rd. This performance allowed Gimnasia to play the Liga Sudamericana de Clubes (South American championship), being the first time a team from Patagonia played an international competition. Gimnasia y Esgrima was a finalist, finally losing to

Estudiantes de Olavarría Club Atlético Estudiantes, usually called Estudiantes de Olavarría, is an Argentine sports club based in Olavarría, Buenos Aires Province. Club's nickname is ''Albinegro''. Estudiantes gained notoriety in late 1990s when the basketball team ...

. Nevertheless, the most important achievement to date was the Primera División championship won in 2005–06. The team, coached by Fernando Duró, defeated

Libertad de Sunchales Club Deportivo Libertad (usually called simply Libertad or Libertad de Sunchales) is a sports club from Argentina, with homebase in the Sunchales city of Santa Fe Province. The club is better known for both its association football and basketba ...

by 4–2 at the finals. Previously, Gimnasia had eliminated

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

and Ben Hur. The roster was: Sebastián Festa, Santiago Haag, Nicolás de los Santos, Gabriel Cocha, Pablo Moldú, Charles Jones, Leandro Masieri, Matías Barberis,

Jervaughn Scales Jervaughn Scales (born August 11, 1971) is an American-Argentinian former professional basketball player. He played three years of college basketball for the Southern Jaguars before playing professionally between 1994 and 2015. Early life A nati ...

, Ruperto Herrera, Diego Romero and Bruce Zabukovic. Cocha was also named

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the finals. In July 2011, Grupo Indalo (a group of companies based on Comodoro Rivadavia) associated with the club, which changed its name to "Gimnasia Indalo" before the 2011–12 season. Marcelo Richotti came back as coach of the team.

Players

Current roster

Retired numbers

Honours

(1): :: 2005–06

Notable players

* Federico Aguerre * Diego Alba * Charles Jones

References

External links

* {{Liga Nacional de Básquet Basketball teams in Argentina Basketball in Chubut Province Basketball teams established in 1919