Minas Tênis Clube (short, just Minas) is a social, recreational and sports club from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. By 2013, it has more than 73,000 members. Its patrimony comprises two urban units, the Minas I and Minas II, and two country units, Minas Country and Minas Tênis Náutico Clube. It also has its own indoor arena, named Juscelino Kubitschek Arena, which is a part of the Minas I complex.
Minas is best known for the professional teams it maintains, in a variety of olympic sports. It also maintains youth teams, and is recognized to be one of the most important formation centers of new sports talents in Brazil. Currently the club has approximately 1000 competing athletes, being about 900 youth athletes.
History
The land that would become the first location of Minas Tênis Clube (currently Minas I) was originally assigned to become a zoo at Belo Horizonte's original urban plan, from the 1890s. By the beginning of the 1930s the urban growth surrounded the land with residential areas. In addition, it was very close to the Palácio da Liberdade, by then the official residence of the governor of Minas Gerais state. Thus the plan for a zoo raised environmental and hygiene concerns among the locals and the top officers of the state administration. Moreover, at the time the city had few entertainment and sports facilities. The then major , aware of this gap, demonstrated the interest to establish a sports center to replace the original project of a zoo.
Concurrently, prominent people from the high society in Belo Horizonte planned to found a big sport club to promote the practice of sports in the city. Necésio Tavares was the leader of this movement. He had previously created a volleyball team with his own name, and started the movement to get funding and supporting to found a club named Serra. The then 23-year-old named Waldomiro Salles Pereira, whom had the intention to found a club for the practice of tennis, get to know about Necésio's initiative, and approaches him to join forces, and to found a unique new club. Together, they develop the concept of the Serra Tennis Clube.
The group, knowing the intention of the major to promote the sports in the city, asked him to donate the land to the foundation of the new club. The major agrees with the condition that the name should be changed to Minas Tênis Clube, and that the club's first president should be appointed by the then governor of the state, . All the interests were aligned, and the official act of the club's establishment was signed on November 15, 1935, in the headquarters of the . At the occasion, Necésio Tavares was appointed as the club's first president.
Locations
The combined area of all locations is 471,000 m2 (approximately 108 acres).
Minas I The Minas I complex occupies an area larger than 31,000 m2 (being 71,000 m2 constructed) in the neighbourhood. The complex is composed by the Juscelino Kubitschek Arena, the Aquatic Park and the Sports square.
Originally, the headquarters was the only one from the club, thus a synonym of the club's name. However, since the opening of Minas II, it was naturally re-branded as Minas I (Minas One) to avoid ambiguity.
Minas II The Minas II complex occupies an area larger than 34,000 m2 in . It is composed by several sports courts, swimming pools, and the main building, which has administration facilities, and ballroom for events. The name of Minas II ("Minas Two") emerged as a natural choice since the inception, and remains until today. Moreover, caused the original headquarters to become known as Minas I ("Minas One").
In the early 80's, Minas Tênis Clube was already established as the most popular and traditional club in Belo Horizonte, and there was a high demand for its expansion. In 1982, it puts the cornerstone for the second headquarter of the club. The sports facilities were inaugurated in December 1984. In 1985, it was started the constructions of the main building, which was concluded in 1986.
Due to its large size, Minas II has been for long time the chosen venue for large events from the club. This includes the annual June Festival, but also big music concerts and sports tournaments.
Minas Tênis Country Clube The Minas Tênis Country Clube is located in Taquaril neighborhood and occupies a total area of 285.750 m2, being 148 mil m2 of it preserved native vegetation.
The Country Club de Belo Horizonte was a social club founded in 1933, by Alcindo Vieira. Its current main building had its construction started in 1954 and concluded on June 6, 1958. In 2000 it was incorporated by Minas, creating the Minas Tênis Country Clube. The previous members from the Country Club became automatically members from Minas Tênis Clube, thus gaining access to the other facilities.
Minas Tênis Náutico Clube The Minas Tênis Náutico Clube is located by the in Nova Lima, and occupies the total area of 117.000 m2. The first stage of the construction occupies an area of 29.346 m2. It started to be built in 1998, and concluded in March 2000.
Artistic gymnastics The club maintains a team of artistic gymnastics since 1977. Currently it competes under the name Sitran/Minas.
Basketball
Futsal
The professional futsal men's team plays for the Brazilian league.
Honours Source:
International South American Championship - Southern Zone Runners-up: 2013
National Brazilian Cup: Champions: 2002, 2012 Brazilian league: Runners-up: 2002 Superliga de Futsal: Runners-up: 2010 Southeastern League: Champions: 2009, 2010 Runners-up: 2006, 2011
Regional Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Championship: Champions: 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Minas Gerais State Championship: Champions: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Squads history
Team roster - season 2019#PositionNameNationality1 Goalkeeper Anderson Silva 2 Winger Gustavo Araújo 3 Goalkeeper Lucas Cardoso 6 Pivot Kauê Gaúcho 7 Winger Dudu Santos 8 Defender Gabriel Ferro 9 Pivot Renato Ramba 10 Defender Luís Dizotti 11 Winger Felipe Santos 13 Winger Lion de Souza 14 Pivot Maico Monteiro 15 Winger Renatinho 17 Defender Vítor Nascimento 19 Pivot Maicon Douglas 20 Goalkeeper Françoar Rodrigues 21 Goalkeeper Mateus Espírito Santo 22 Winger Vitinho 33 Defender João Pedro 93 Winger Henrique Souza 96 Winger Josué Oliveira 99 Winger Leo Fernandes
Judo The club maintain an olympic judo team, which currently disputes under the name Belo Dente/Minas. Among the most successful athletes are Luciano Corrêa, Ketleyn Quadros and Érika Miranda.
Swimming
The professional swimming team is one of the most successful in Brazil. It is currently runners-up and champion of the two most prestigious national competitions, respectively: the Maria Lenk and José Finkel trophies. Currently the swimming team competes with the name Fiat/Minas, repeating the same name and sponsorship from the men's volleyball team in the late 80's.
Among the most famous swimmers that have competed for the team, there are Kaio Márcio de Almeida, Joanna Maranhão, Thiago Pereira, Marcus Mattioli, Rogério Romero and the Olympic champion César Cielo.
History Swimming is practiced in Minas since its inception. At the Maria Lenk Trophy, the club finished in second place, with 1990.5 points.
The team highlights were the victory of César Cielo in the 100-metre freestyle, with 48.13. Nicolas Oliveira was 4th (49.12) and Marco Antonio Macedo was the eighth (50:25).
At the José Finkel Trophy, the team finished 1st, with 2945 points and 19 golds, 13 silver and 11 bronzes (total: 44).
It was the fourth victory of Minas in a row. The highlight was the victory of Miguel Valente in 800-metre freestyle, with 7'44.84, being the best time of the world in 2014 until then.
Minas started the Maria Lenk trophy as the team to be beaten, given its renowned swimmers. The club lead the competition until the last day, when it was surpassed by Pinheiros with the tight different of 5 points.
Minas finished the competition in second place, with 2,133. One of the highlights was the gold of Thiago Pereira at the 400-metre medley, with 4'13.94.
The result qualified him for the FINA World Championship, in Kazan.
In August Minas won the José Finkel Trophy, in a close dispute with the host team Pinheiros. It was the club's fifth victory in a row, in a total of 11 championships.
Honors Maria Lenk Trophy / Brazilian Summer Trophy (long course): Champions: 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2011, 2013 (9) José Finkel Trophy / Brazilian Winter Trophy (short course): Champions: 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019 (12)
Tennis The club maintains a tennis team, which competes under the name Cultura Inglesa/Minas.
Trampolining The club maintains a trampolining team since 1999. Currently it competes under the name BH Shopping/Minas.
Volleyball - Men
The men's professional volleyball team plays at the Superliga Brasileira de Voleibol. It is the most successful professional Brazilian team, with a record of nine national titles.
History The first volleyball teams from Minas Tênis Club were formed in 1937.
In the decade of 1980 the volleyball gained major attendance in Brazil. The first national professional championship was organized in 1981. Also, the decade was the era of so-called "silver generation", in a reference to the team that won the silver medal in men's volleyball in the Olympic games of Los Angeles. The team, at time sponsored by the Italian car manufactured Fiat, was the major power of the Brazilian volleyball. The team led by the Korean coach Young Wan Sohn won three titles in a row. At that time it created a major rivalry with two other teams from São Paulo state: Banespa and Pirelli.
During the 1990s the team had major success, winning three titles in a row. The team was named after Telemig Celular, a former mobile carrier. It was acquired by Vivo, which continued the sponsorship until today.
Honors Minas Tenis Clube is the most successful team in the history of Brazilian Men's volleyball. They have a record of nine national titles. South-American Championship: Champions: 1984, 1985, 1999 Runners-up: 2013, 2022 Guarani Trophy of Champion Clubs Champions: 1963 Brazilian Championship of Champion Clubs Champions: 1964 Brazilian Championship: Champions: 1984, 1985, 1986 Brazilian League: Runners-up: 1988–89 Brazilian Superleague Champions: 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2006–07 Runners-up: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09 Minas Gerais state championship: Champions: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2019 Runners-up: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 São Paulo state championship (representing Esporte Clube Pinheiros): Champions: 2005, 2006 Runners-up: 2007, 2008
Squads history
Team roster - season 2019/2020 Fiat/Minas No.NameDate of birthPosition 1 (c) setter 2 outside hitter 3 opposite 4 setter 6 opposite 7 outside hitter 8 outside hitter 9 middle blocker 10 middle blocker 11 libero 12 middle blocker 14 opposite 15 libero 16 outside hitter 18 opposite 19 middle blocker 20 outside hitter
Team roster - season 2018/2019 Fiat/Minas No.NameDate of birthPosition 2 Luis Mazorra outside hitter 3 Davy Moraes opposite 4 Marlon Yared (c) setter 5 Lucca Vieira opposite 6 Mateus Pereira setter 7 Henrique Honorato outside hitter 8 Eduardo Sobrinho setter 9 Lucas Figueiredo outside hitter 10 Matheus Santos middle blocker 11 Robinson Dvoranen outside hitter 12 Rogério Filho libero 13 Flávio Gualberto middle blocker 14 Rafael Martins middle blocker 15 Maique Nascimento libero 16 João Franck outside hitter 17 Cledenilson Batista middle blocker 18 Felipe Roque opposite 19 Edson Paixão middle blocker 20 Silmar Almeida outside hitter
Volleyball - Women