An international leader who has been instrumental in the success of sport in Central America, South America and the Caribbean has been selected to receive a 2016 International Honorary Doctorate from the United States Sports Academy.
Héctor F. Cardona of San Juan, Puerto Rico, will receive the degree in ceremonies on 10 November 2016 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Academy’s Board of Trustees. The Academy each year gives national and international honorary doctorates to honor exceptional contributions to sport.
In November Cardona was re-elected unanimously for a fourth term (2015-19) as president of the Central American and Caribbean Sport Organization (CACSO). The election came during the CACSO 46th General Assembly held in Barranquilla, Colombia, the host city of the XXIII Central American and Caribbean Games (CACG), to be held in the summer of 2018.
CACSO oversees the Central American and Caribbean Games, which are a multi-sport regional championship event held every four years, typically in the middle even year between the Summer Olympic Games. The CACG are for countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and certain participating South American countries. The event involves 31 nations in 41 sports.
Cardona was first elected CACSO president in 2000. Previously, he served as president of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee for 17 years (1991-2008), executive council member of the Association of National Olympic Committees (2002-14), and executive member to the Pan American Sports Organization (1995-2000).
Other leadership positions include president of the Puerto Rico Boxing Federation (1969-1985), vice president of the Amateur International Boxing Association (1978-90), and secretary general of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (1980-1991).
Cardona played AA baseball and distinguished himself in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump. His leadership accomplishments span six decades in administration, athlete development, the restructuring of the Olympic Committee, and the Olympic Movement. Cardona was inducted into the Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Each year the United States Sports Academy’s Awards of Sport program honors a wide range of accomplishments in sport and serves as “A Tribute to the Artist and the Athlete,” in conjunction with the Academy’s American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA).
Based in Daphne, Ala., the United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, regionally accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research, and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports. For more information about the Academy, call (251) 626-3303 or visit www.ussa.edu.
By Keith Ayers
Keith Ayers is the Director of Communications at the United States Sports Academy. Reach him at kayers@ussa.edu.