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Braskem Camaçari’s third Company Unity Games took place between November 5th and 20th in the city of Salvador, Bahia. Everything was going as usual until an unexpected closing scene riveted everyone’s attention. Carrying their medals on their chests and their trophies in their hands, the Basic Feedstocks (champion), Polyolefins (vice champion), Corporate (third place) and Vinyls (fourth place) team members spontaneously came together in a joyous and exciting chorus of congratulations between winners and losers that culminated in an improvised refrain chanted to the rhythm of whistles, trumpets and drums: “Braskem, Braskem, Braskem....”
Following a tradition that is the reason for being of Braskem’s Company Unity Games, the biggest thrills are not restricted to the games involving 11 types of sports; they are also filtered through dozens of stories of first encounters and reunions between members of the company, their families and retirees. Involving nearly 1,400 participants, the third Company Unity Games were no exception.
When the Polyolefins women’s indoor soccer team, made up of members of the PE-1, PE-2 and PET units, came on the field, few people knew how its athletes had come together. It all started during the first Unity Games in 2003, when Laís Nascimento, a Lab Analyst from the PE-1 Unit at Camaçari, had no intention of participating. “I managed to convince her that the aim of these games wasn’t to play to win but to play to be a part of the team,” recalls Djalma Menezes, a General Manager of the third Unity Games.
No one was more surprised the Laís when she won two swimming races during the first games: the 25 and 50 meters. She had an even bigger surprise during a break between races when she ran into Virna Soares, a former classmate at the Federal Technological Education Center of Bahia (Cefet/BA). “We had no idea that we were both working for the same company. Now we see each other and socialize all the time, whether it’s going to the mall or a movie or out for a drink,” says Virna, a Full Operator at the PE-2 Unit. During the 2003 Games, the women also ran into three other former classmates from Cefet: Technology Lab Analyst Cheuza Frutuoso, and Operations Technicians Ana Paula Reis and Tatiana Macedo, all from PE-2.
The friends working at Polyolefins decided to form an indoor soccer team. After a few practice games they even reached the championships. To everyone’s amazement, the women’s decision ended up in the liveliest rivalry of organized fans among all the sports events in the third Unity Games. The fans filled the bleachers at the Braskem Cultural and Sports Association (ACEB) in the oceanfront Costa Azul district of Salvador, while the women from Polyolefins won the trophy by beating the Basic Feedstocks team 2 to 0. Winning the championship was another way of celebrating their stellar reunion. “Today, my circle of friends has a lot to do with the friends I’ve made during the Unity Games,” says Laís, a star player on the winning team.
While the Unity Games are an opportunity for people to get reacquainted, they have also put two old friends on different sides of the net. Fábio Machado, a Senior Operator at PE-2, and Ednei Lima, the officer Responsible for Industrial Operations at the Basic Feedstocks Unit, were on the same volleyball squad at the former Bahia Federal Technical School, and after 20 long years they returned to the court during the second Unity Games in 2004.
The problem arose at the end of the co-ed volleyball championship, when the old friends found themselves on opposing teams. Unib, Ednei’s team, won the gold, while Polyolefins, Fábio’s team, had to settle for the silver. Even the traditional mocking jibes after the game did no lasting damage to their long-standing friendship.
The third Unity Games opened with a nearly 6-km “solidarity hike” along the seacoast of Salvador, which involved 900 participants. The mobilization and unity that this hike brought about in previous years sowed the seeds for the Braskem International Half-Marathon Relay, held in Salvador in August 2005.
In addition to the ever-larger number of people taking part in the hike, however, the 2005 Games were characterized by decentralized organization and management. Each Braskem unit had its own team manager, and these coordinators reported to general managers. A 20-person team from the Regional Physical Education Board (Crefi) provided support. “And we only hired judges who belonged to the federations of their respective sport,” says Marco Antonio Queiroz, from the Shared Services Team, also a general manager of the third Unity Games.
The organizers formed four teams: Vinyls (members of the PVC, Chlor-alkali and CPL units), Polyolefins (members of the PE-1, PE-2 and PET units), Corporate (Supplies, Finance, Supervision, Corporate Engineering, People and Organizations) and Unib. The competitions included 11 sports: snooker, dominoes, cards, ping-pong, tennis, fishing, racing, swimming, volleyball, and indoor and outdoor soccer.
Neilma Miranda and Pedro do Carmo, respectively the women’s champion and men’s vice champion in the racing competition, are yet another example of the unity these Games brings about. He has a degree in Physical Education and works as a Full Operator at the PET plant. She is a nutritionist who raced as his dependent. When they started dating in 1993, Neilma was out of shape and had no intention of competing. “At first, I’d watch the races just to cheer him on,” she recalls. Gradually, she became more and more involved in running and now she has no intention of giving it up. Their mutual interest in the sport ended in marriage. Today, the couple runs in about 20 races per year and is part of the Braskem racing team, coached by Alberto do Carmo. Originally hired to take care of the physical conditioning of the Braskem members training for the Half Marathon, Alberto do Carmo continued to consult for the company once the race was over, at Braskem members’ request.
The star athlete in the group is Vílton Lima, a Senior Operator at the PE-2 plant. Since the Unity Games were created in 2003, he has dominated all the racing events. “The importance of these Games lies in raising awareness. When you run, you buy health in installments today so you can live better tomorrow,” he observes. This year was no different, and Vílton easily became three-time champion. He has raced since he was 17, and at the age of 46 he is brimming with good health. He dreams of creating a racing team that can devote itself to the sport and wear the company’s name proudly wherever it competes.
Unib won the championship on the tracks and courts, and managed to duplicate that feat in the bleachers, where its organized fans put on a show. Unib fans stood out in the crowd with their lime-green Afro wigs. In a tradition Brazilian fans have made famous throughout the world at the Olympics and World Cup games, they played drums, maracas and shakers, blew whistles and waved flags. A veritable task force was mobilized to publicize the event, putting up posters in the cafeterias and shift offices and advertising in company newsletters. “Unib members only received a kit of fan paraphernalia when they arrived at the venue of the Games, which bolstered our team spirit,” says Renato Bentes, Unib’s Projects Coordinator for the Investments Area and one of the managers of the Basic Feedstocks team.
After the awards were given out at a closing party, there were two concerts and a huge barbecue for all participants. According to Shared Services Manager Antonio Ailton Andrade, who was responsible for organizing commissions for the Units and Corporate Centers during the third Unity Games, “The Games achieved their two main objectives: bringing company professionals and their families together, and promoting quality of life. And both were achieved through sports.”
Braskem’s Unity Games originated from a suggestion by company members, and their stories are repeated every year, charged with symbolism and human interest. General Manager Djalma Menezes, who has been responsible for organizing the games since their inception, still gets goosebumps when he recalls one scene in particular. He witnessed the moment when two senior panel operators from different units first met in person on the playing field. These two colleagues, who had talked to each other regularly for 10 years on the radio and telephone, were deeply touched and exchanged a hearty handshake. They had finally met face to face after all those years. That’s sports for you.
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A healthy rivalry between the Americas in southern Brazil
