ABSTRACT
The Centro Nacional de Alto Rendimiento del Deporte (CeNARD; Center for Peak Sport Performance) is Argentina’s national training center for elite athletes. It was created in 1990, and I became the Head of the Sport Psychology Department from its inception until today. In a positive turn of events, Argentina’s performance in the 1995 Pan-American Games in Mar del Plata helped establish Sport Psychology (SP) as an important aspect of training for elite athletes, but within the SP department there was awareness that in order to survive, good performance outcomes had to be delivered, crisis situations had to be solved inconspicuously, and confidentiality had to be maintained under all pressures. My personal development is closely intertwined with my dream of maintaining and enhancing the SP department at the CeNARD. There have been constant sociopolitical changes in the country, but there has always been a belief that survival rested on following the SP norms with respect and conviction.
