The "Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata" was founded on June 3, 1887 as a civil association, and thus is the oldest surviving football club in the whole of South America. Its foundation came barely five years after the creation of the City of La Plata in 1882. The first sports offered to its members were, as its Spanish name indicates, gymnastics and fencing. Clubs supporting these sports were common among the upper classes at the end of the 19th century ("cf." the prior foundation of Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires in 1880). Later on, other disciplines were added, including track and field, football, basketball and rugby.