Club Profile – Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires – (GEBA)
Located in the Argentine capital city of Buenos Aires, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires (GEBA) is a social, sports, and cultural institution that has more than 18,000 members. The club offers 30 different sports, such as Field Hockey, rugby, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, and fencing.
GEBA has two water-based Astroturf-style hockey fields that are used by the dozens of women’s / girls’ and men’s / boys’ teams at the club. Teams include 4 Field Hockey rosters for players ages 18 & up, which compete against Argentina’s most competitive clubs.
Field Hockey in Argentina
Ranked as one of the most dominant Field Hockey countries in the world, Argentina sets the bar high for Field Hockey competition. Field Hockey is the top women’s sport in Argentina with the country’s National Team ranked third in the FIH World Rankings since July 2019.
The metropolitan region of the capital city Buenos Aires alone has nearly 700 women’s / girls’ field hockey teams competing at 7 different age levels among 7 different skill levels, contributing approx. 18-20 players to the national team’s roster with the balance coming from the “interior” of the country.
Luciana Aymar – Best All-Time Women’s Field Hockey Player
Eight-time FIH Player of the Year award winner Luciana Aymar (recently retired) is widely considered the best women’s field hockey player of all time. The Rosario, Argentina native won, as a member of the national women’s team:
World Cup – 2 Gold medals, Champions Trophy – 6 Golds, Pan American Games – 3 Golds plus 11 Silver and Bronze medals at the above international competitions and the Olympic Games.
Luciana played her club hockey at Club Atletico Fisherton and the Jockey Club (both in Rosario) continuing on to Quilmes Atletico Club and GEBA in Buenos Aires.