Mario has a high school degree from a Salesian school, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, as well as an MA. This experience has contributed to his knowledge of the art of administering companies and enterprises. Parallelly, he has received certification in recreative sports and Basketball in the United States.
He has travelled to places like California, Texas, Alabama, and Arizona and has received these certifications through the most prestigious colleges in the United States. The training started in 1970-1985 with Terry Layton, a renowned basketball coach who was living in Idaho and Oklahoma.
His first job was working in Basketball while he was achieving his bachelor’s degree, and at that time, he had the opportunity to receive mentoring in Mexico, where he prepared for three months to train Guatemalan youth in basketball who participated in the national Olympic team. The team achieved second place in national youth basketball, which provided Mario with the opportunity to become assistant trainers.
Mario graduated in 1981, and in 1982 he started his career officially as a trainer and participated in central American tournaments. He was also a director for technical programs in the Olympic Committee in Guatemala. He was later involved in working for international companies and retired from coaching basketball.
During his experience, he advocated for sports laws in which 2-3% of the national budget in Guatemala was entitled to basketball. The Sports Ministry and the Autonomic Sports Confederation of Guatemala are involved in competitive, federal, and recreative sports.
Mario believes that sports “make you feel good and it creates a want to develop” as a professional and in personal life. When you have a free day and you have hobbies like sports and artistic hobbies, it contributes to the emotional aspect of a human being, as well as to the quality of life of a person. Its impact on society is huge.
Back in the year 2000, Mario had a comeback in basketball as he had the opportunity to train the team “Esportivo” and developed the team for 3 months. They were named national champions. The team wanted Mario to be the national trainer. However, he did not want his work to sponsor him as a trainer because it may be a conflict of interest. Therefore, he stopped being involved in basketball because of his work commitment. Mario was also a trainer for the team in Canada, which is one of the pictures he provided for this profile article.
According to Mario, the top 500 world companies have leaders with positions that have had extracurricular activities as part of their college formation, such as sports, art, innovation, and robotics. Another important aspect is “touching hearts while genuinely influencing people through different academic and company strategies.” He considers that trainers need to know how to contribute to human development through coaching and mentoring.
Additionally, Mario stated that sports and arts provide a more sensible perspective in life at a micro and macro perspective. Organizations and institutions including the Work Ministry in countries like Japan develop their workforce when they incorporate sports as a part of their practice and training by “viewing the body as a temple” while taking care of physical and mental health.
Mario considers that companies and institutions need to help teachers, mentors, coaches, leaders as well as students, by improving their profiles. Alumni groups must connect with companies that pay attention to integrity and not focus as much on profit. A good example he mentioned was the fact that the Lakers team has been sold for a tremendous amount of money.
It was interesting to hear all of Mario’s experience and his contributions to his country, Guatemala. He mentioned that he would sometimes appear in segments on TV, and his son Mario Andres would cry watching him. Mario also met his wife Any through basketball, since she was also involved, and they play in their home courtyard till this day. Mario is interested in starting a podcast about basketball, and he has been sharing on social media technical skills to learn basketball for people interested in playing basketball. Mario considers it is necessary to reorganize and regroup through strategy to create awareness, participation, and inclusion in sports, not only in Guatemala, but in the world.
Category: Sports
Tags: Basketball, Guatemala, Development, Impact, Society
All pictures provided by Mario Melgar, MA