Exactly one month from now, the ASU2025 Junior Pan American Games will start in Paraguay’s capital Asunción. From August 9 to 23, 2025, the multi-sport event will feature over 4,000 young athletes from 41 countries across the Americas, competing in 28 sports and 42 disciplines. The Junior PanAm Games are considered the most important youth sports festival in the Americas.
The Games’ inauguration will take place at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción on August 9, after the lighting of the Pan American flame took place on July 6 at the Jesuit Missions of the Holy Trinity, in the department of Itapúa.
“From there, we began what will be the Pan American Games route, covering the 17 departments in Paraguay,” says Larissa Schaerer, deputy general coordinator of the Major Sporting Events Organisation Commission. “We will tour each departmental capital. Then, we will return to Asunción to tour the area, and the fire will arrive at the opening ceremony.”
4 cities, 28 sports
Paraguay’s Team for the ASU2025 Pan American Junior Games will be the largest ever. 334 events in 28 sports, such as athletics, cycling, wrestling, and gymnastics, are expected to be contested by them, and the other athletes.
Most sports events are set to take place in venues within Asunción and Luque, with specific events at independent venues located in Ypacaraí (water skiing), and Encarnación (open water swimming, triathlon, sailing, and mountain biking).
For the Junior Pan American Games 2025 edition, six disciplines were added: open water swimming, BMX freestyle, water skiing, golf, field hockey, and rugby sevens. Sports included for the previous editions, but dropped for the present, are baseball, bowling, boxing, modern pentathlon, and softball
Thousands of foreign visitors
In total, Asunción will host nearly six thousand foreign visitors during the upcoming Games, with hotel occupancy at around 80 percent, according to the organisers’ forecast.
According to data provided by the National Secretariat of Tourism (Senatur) and the Paraguayan Olympic Committee (COP), the event will mobilise 4,014 athletes, 762 international judges, and 300 sports authorities. On top of them, over 500 staff members are expected, and 46 international technical delegates, in addition to 300 participants of the Panam Sports Assembly, which will be held at the same time as the Games. More than 9,300 volunteers registered.
Impacting local economy
The ASU2025 Junior PanAm Games will also attract thousands of tourists, starting in late July.
“These numbers reflect not only the magnitude of the event, but also the positive impact it will have on the local economy. The hotel, restaurant, transportation, and other tourism services industries will directly benefit,” says Tourism Minister Angie Duarte.
The ASU2025 Junior Pan American Games not only position Paraguay as the host of a high-level event, but also consolidate its image as a reliable and well-prepared tourist destination. The synergy between sport and tourism becomes a powerful tool for the country’s economic development, and international projection.
With the countdown underway, Paraguay is preparing to welcome the continent with open arms. In a celebration that promises to leave its mark on both the sporting, and economic levels.
For more information on this enormous sports event coming up in Paraguay, check out ASU 2025 Junior PanAm Games on Instagram.
