Clubs, teams and athletes from Matosinhos: the stars of the 2022 Sports Gala
The Sports and Congress Centre, the "House of Selections", was filled with stars on the night when the Matosinhos City Hall once again held the Gala that honours dozens of teams and more than a thousand athletes.
Under the colours and the motto of Equality in Sports, were honoured those who achieved collective titles of district, national and international scope in the sports seasons 2020/21 and 2021/22 or individual titles, being part of clubs in the Municipality, of equal greatness in the years 2020 and 2021.
To this distinction were added, for the first time, individual athletes who, although not integrating clubs of the Municipality, live in Matosinhos and achieved important national and international titles in the referred seasons.
There were more than 360 district, national and international titles, European and World Champions, obtained in 26 different sports (handball, beach handball, athletics, badminton, basketball, billiards, bodyboard, cycling/btt, football, beach football, futsal, gymnastics, golf, karate, kickboxing, swimming, orienteering, figure skating, skateboarding, surfing, triathlon, sailing, vietvoodao, volleyball, beach volleyball and chess) involving 65 teams and about 1,200 athletes from 35 sports associations in the municipality.
These are high numbers, but are the result of the sports movement in Matosinhos, which already has 113 sports institutions and thousands of athletes, from the youth to the senior classes, in more than 40 different sports; it is natural that, besides the international competitions, every season there are hundreds of athletes who are champions in the various championships.
The event, which was attended by more than 2500 people in the stands and in the audience chairs, had one of the highest moments in the tribute to António Rijo, who passed away on the 25th of November last year, and counted with the interventions of Vasco Pinho, Municipal Councillor for Sports, Tiago Brito, an athlete trained at A. D. R. Freixieiro, Futsal World Champion in 2021 and European Champion in 2022, as well as Luísa Lopes, President of Rolar Matosinhos; There were also moments of entertainment, especially with the participation of the choir Ensemble Vocal Pro Musica, which interpreted "We Are The Champions", and the Bling Crew, a hip hop group, and another special moment, before the award ceremony to the clubs and athletes, when the president of Cidade Social - Network of Local Authorities Friends of Sport, Pedro Mortágua Soares, handed Matosinhos City Hall the award corresponding to the sixth consecutive year of the title of Municipality Friend of Sport.
Carlos Mouta, Vice-president, and the Town Councillors Vasco Pinho and Marta Pontes were present on behalf of the Municipality, as well as several members of the Municipal Assembly, the Directors of municipal companies, Henrique Calisto and Helena Vaz (from Matosinhos Sport and Matosinhos Habit, respectively), the Presidents of the Parish Councils, Leonardo Fernandes (São Mamede de Infesta and Senhora da Hora) and Pedro Gonçalves (Custóias, Leça do balio and Guifões) and also Fernando Monteiro and João Torres, representatives of the Parish Unions of Matosinhos Leça da Palmeira and of the Parish Union of Perafita, Lavra and Santa Cruz do Bispo, repeatedly.
Among other distinguished guests were presidents and representatives of a large part of the municipality's associative fabric, especially the clubs with champions, Alfa Académico Clube, Associação Académica de S. Mamede, Associação Cultural Recreativa e Desportiva - Arena de Matosinhos, Associação Onda do Norte, Associação Portuguesa de Defesa Pessoal Vietvodao JIC, Centro Popular dos Trabalhadores do Bairro de Carcavelos, CGN - Clube de Golfe Citynorte, Clube de Andebol de Leça, Clube de Bilhar Os Netinhos, Clube de Btt de Matosinhos, Clube de Desporto C+s de Lavra, Clube de Vela Atlântico, Código Conquista - Associação Desportiva, Futebol Clube de Infesta, Futebol Clube de Perafita, Grd Leça - "Os Gordos" Sports Association, Grupo Desportivo 4 Caminhos, Grupo Desportivo Aldeia Nova, Grupo Desportivo Basquete de Leça, Grupo Desportivo Dias Ferreira, Grupo Desportivo e Cultural da Cohaemato, Grupo Desportivo dos Ferroviários de Campanhã, Grupo Desportivo e Recreativo Juventude das Ribeiras, Grupo Desportivo Mini Águias, Grupo Desportivo S. Sebastião, Leixões Sport Clube, Matosinhos Futsal Clube, Padroense Futebol Clube, Parábola Fantástica - Associação, Rolar Matosinhos - Associação Desportiva, Skate Destruidor - Associação de Skate, Sport Clube da Senhora da Hora, Sport Clube do Porto - Centro de Vela, União Desportiva Lavrense and Yate Clube do Porto, as well as various representatives from various Associations and Federations.
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