Vinhais showed sporting talent at the 9th Gala Nordeste Esporte

On Saturday, Vinhais hosted the 9th edition of the Gala Nordeste Desporto. A grand exhibition that honored and rewarded athletes and sports clubs in the Bragança area for their exceptional performance in the previous season. The ceremony took place at the Solar dos Condes Cultural Center in Vinhas and was attended by more than a hundred athletes from 15 sports. Ana Fernandes was one of the winners of the night. At just 16 years old, he was standing out, nationally and internationally, in the world of roller hockey and he guarantees that this recognition is a driving force to continue. “It’s always good to see our efforts recognized here, it’s an honor to come here at the Jornal Nordeste Gala, they’ve always recognized me, they’ve always supported me throughout my hockey career and it’s a great feeling to be present here”, highlighted. the athlete. The other winner of the night was Ricardo Mendes, in the MTB category. The athlete is a national XCO champion and winner of the Portuguese XCO Cup, among other awards he has won and earned him the Nordeste Desporto award. For Ricardo Mendes, these awards mean “a lot”, because they recognize the “efforts” made by athletes and encourage “young people to practice more sports, which is very good for them”, which he said. This year, the career award was presented to Armando José. The former goalkeeper, known as “Rambo”, decided to hang up his gloves at the end of the 2023/2024 season and was honored for it. “It is a great pride to receive recognition from the North East and to thank you in advance for the award they have given me. It’s always good to receive awards and those awards are the ones I like the most because they are a recognition of my career,” he said. The former goalkeeper also confirmed that he feels happy to face the new challenge he decided to accept, being a goalkeeper coach. “This is a very good challenge and I want to thank Bragança for the opportunity he gave me. I’m ready for the fight, that’s all I can say”, he said. At the awards reception, Armando José moved as he talked about his nephew with whom he wanted to share the lawn. “He is a person who means a lot to me and I know that I am important to him because he is important to me, because life attracted us, his mother, who is my sister, took me and I always say to my sister that there was one day. I was going to play with him. It was the best cup I had in my whole life, to be able to play with it and I want to be happy and win much more than I did”, he said. At this gala, there was still room for arbitration. Rui Mouta, former referee and announcer at Rádio Brigantia, was honored for his 20-year career. “Although we are referees and usually we are not recognized because we are the least visible person, or more, it depends on the game. It is always good to be recognized and appreciated and to be remembered and appreciated for what we have done during our career”, he said. The gala Nordeste Esporte is the only one that publicly recognizes the merits of athletes and clubs. For Paulo Afonso, director of the media group, it is essential to recognize the efforts of these athletes. “It is essential that initiatives of this kind continue to be undertaken because it is the only initiative that brings together all the amalgamated sports played in the area, which have a projection outside our region. Therefore, the big winners, who were also present here today, are recognized through these galas. They are an example for young people to follow this type of sport and for the region to follow this dynamic, which, as we understand, is very big”, he said. The support of the municipalities is also important for this type of initiative. Vinhais was the partner city hall for this year’s edition and the president, Luís Fernandes, was honored to host the event. “It is important that the mainland was held here in Vinhas because Vinhas is also an example in terms of sport, in terms of support in terms of sport in different ways and so, I would say, we are also honored to host it. gala here in Vinhas”, said the mayor. The PressNordeste group (Rádio Brigantia and Jornal Nordeste) honored, once again, the athletes and sports clubs of Bragança, for their performance in the previous season. Among the various winners, Luís Gonçalves and Luís Fernandes also stand out. PressNordeste honored the athletes from Vinhedo together with the city of Vinhedo, for being examples of overcoming and resilience. After Mirandela, Moncorvo, Vimioso, Bragança, Vila Flor and Miranda do Douro, Vinhais received the Northeast Sports Awards Gala for the second time.