Organized by the Tahuichi Academy, every year during January this stadium hosts one of the greatest youth football tournaments in the world, the "Mundialito Paz y Unidad." Past participants of the U-15 tournament have included Real Madrid, Benfica, Vasco da Gama, River Plate, Colo-Colo and many youth national teams.
History
Name Changes
At first it was named Estadio Departamental de Santa Cruz, then in 1972 following the death of auto racing legend Willy Bendeck in a local competition, the decision to name the departamental stadium after Willy Bendeck was finalized.
In 1979 the Tahuichi Aguilera football academy was invited to an international U-15 soccer tournament held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The team came to be crowned tournament champion, which created a decision to rename the stadium in recognition of the founder of the Tahuichi Academy (Ramón "Tahuichi" Aguilera Costas), to be called Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera, a name it bears today.[3]
Renovations
In late 2014, the stadium began a renovation that cost approximately 77 million BOL. The first phase of the project includes new bathrooms, a subterranean parking lot, new changing rooms, security cameras, renovated suites, and renovated press cabins. Phase One was completed in 2016.[4][5][6]
Phase Two consists of new lighting, new parking garage, referee locker rooms and doping rooms.[7]
The third phase was completed in late 2019, and the renovations were fully completed in February 2021. The last phase included the installation of 14,300 seats.[8]
