A COMMUNITY THAT CARES
I’d like to make you a special invitation By Eric Nice | São Paulo Atheltic Club | www.spac.org.br
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s we gradually return to a more normalised social life, with safe openings of areas in clubs, I invite members of the British community, descendants or simply lovers of traditions and cultural history to visit this true open-air museum that we have in the noble center of São Paulo in a club format. At SPAC (São Paulo Athletic Club), in the heart of the Higienópolis neighbourhood, Charles Miller brought football to the country. We have a noble space at the club for the trophies that our team, led by him, won - the first three-time football championship in São Paulo, at the beginning of the 20th century. Also from that time are our snooker tables, which, dare I say, are the prettiest and best in the country. Imported from England, they remain in use since the day they landed, more than a century ago. Our Pub, on weekends, goes back to traditional British pubs with live music and varied entertainment. In our country club headquarter, we have rugby teams, which are always responsible for a large part of the bases of the Brazilian teams in the sport. Usually, the disputes are on Saturdays, at the headquarters in the Santo Amaro neighbourhood, on the banks of the Guarapiranga dam. Speaking of dams, we partnered with another British club, SPYC (São Paulo Yacht Club). It is the oldest sailing association in São Paulo (1917) and with the partnership, SPAC members can
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use SPYC’s facilities and vice versa, in addition to having access to the dam. Returning to the Higienopolis headquarters, a delicious space we have is the bowls green field, a traditional British sport and which holds the uninterrupted stage of what is considered one of the oldest interstate disputes in Brazil - SPAC against its brother from Rio, the Paissandu Club, located in Leblon. In fact, we have more brothers around the world, the SAC (Santos Athletic Club), Rio Cricket Athletic Club (Niterói), Belgrano Athletic Club, Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club (Buenos Aires) and the British Club Bangkok (Thailand), with which we maintain a partnership of permission for the attendance of members between the associations. At the central headquarters, I invite you to discover this “oasis”, located between Rua Augusta and Rua da Consolação to understand why I used this word. I have rarely seen a guest arrive at SPAC for the first time and not be surprised: “I had no idea that almost in the center of São Paulo there was such an oasis”. With nine tennis courts, two swimming pools, a multi-sport court, squash courts, a three-story gym, bars, restaurants in addition to everything I said, I would say that it is our private paradise where I invite you to discover. ◼
British Society São Paulo | Fundação Britanica de Beneficência | Spotlight N° 131
