Julio Enrique Monagas
| Julio Enrique Monagas | |
|---|---|
| Born | ca. 1900 Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Died | 14 July 1984 Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Occupation | Sportsman, public servant |
Julio Enrique Monagas (ca. 1900 - 14 July 1984), born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, is considered the father of Olympic sports in Puerto Rico. Through his efforts, Puerto Rico was admitted into the Olympic Games in 1948. Monagas was also the first director Puerto Rico's Public Recreation and Parks Commission, and the first president of the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization.
Julio Enrique Monagas was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. While still a boy, he competed in several track and field events, including the shot put and pole vaulting. He went to college at the Polytechnic Institute in San Germán, Puerto Rico, the school that became the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.
In 1928 Monagas became "the first and finest" sports editor to work for a local newspaper (El Día), and in 1929, Monagas founded one of the first two athletic clubs on the island, the Ponce Athletic Club. Along with the San Juan Olympic Club, the Ponce Athletic Club was the first sports organization not affiliated with an educational institution. During the 1930s he worked on promoting the development of sports in Ponce and southern Puerto Rico. In 1938, he was part of the Puerto Rican delegation that participated in the Sixth Central American Games in Panama, both as an athlete delegate and as a journalist.
In 1941, he was appointed director of Puerto Rico's Comisión de Recreo y Deportes Públicos (Public Sports and Recreation Commission), with responsibility to regulate sports in Puerto Rico. As director of the Comisión, Monagas sent Puerto Rican teams to play exhibition games in other countries. In 1947, the Comisión de Recreo y Deportes Públicos became the Comisión de Parques y Recreo Públicos (Public Recreation and Parks Commission) under Monagas' direction. In the same year, Monagas created the Federación de Atletismo Aficionado de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Amateur Athletics Federation) which he presided until 1965. The Federation was instrumental in the development of track and field islandwide. Later, the organization affiliated with the International Amateur Athletics Federation.
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