This Sunday, 10 November, Famalicão rewarded the sporting achievements of more than two hundred athletes, coaches, managers and sports teams from the municipality. The 9th edition of the Famalicão Sports Gala brought to the Municipal Pavilion all these protagonists, who were honoured for their achievements over the past year.
Of the awards, the ‘Excellence Award’ went to the AFSA - Vila Nova de Famalicão Amateur Football Association.
"It's a distinction that fills us with pride. It's the result of the work of the managers, coaches, players and fans," said AFSA president Márcio Sousa, who gave a special thanks to his board of directors, ’people who believed from the first moment that it was possible to do more and better (...) let's move on and continue to do a good job, which is our purpose".
He also took the opportunity to express his appreciation to the town hall for its support of the association and its visible investment in sport.
‘Every year we've seen a very positive evolution, which has allowed us to attract more and higher quality athletes,’ commented Márcio Sousa.
In addition to the Excellence Award, jury prizes were also presented to Riba de Ave Hockey Club, which won in the ‘Sports Association/Club of the Year’ and ‘Manager of the Year’ categories, won by Ângelo Lopes; to Mafalda Mesquita, from the Grupo Desportivo de Natação de Famalicão, in the ‘Female Breakthrough Athlete’ category; and to Gabriel Figueiredo, from Sporting Clube de Braga, in the ‘Male Breakthrough Athlete’ category.
The ‘Coach of the Year’ award went to Hugo Azevedo, coach of the National Under-17 Men's Roller Hockey Team, the ‘Referee of the Year’ to João Pinheiro, from the Vila Nova de Famalicão Referee Centre, and the ‘Sporting Event of the Year’, chosen by public vote, was awarded to the ‘Guinness World Records: 20th Anniversary CX A2D Tournament’.
In this edition of the Famalicão Sports Gala, 215 athletes, coaches, associations, clubs and sports leaders were honoured and received the Famalicense D'Ouro award from the mayor for the national and international titles achieved in 34 sports in the 2023 and 2023/2024 seasons.
‘They are an enormous source of pride, a great example and a great inspiration,’ said Mário Passos, the mayor, about the honourees.
‘In Famalicão, we are fortunate to have a constantly growing sports ecosystem, which has contributed to the success of our athletes and sports associations,’ he said, taking the opportunity to list some of the investments in this area, such as the new Athletics Track in Talvai, the expansion of the city's Municipal Swimming Pools and the future Skate Park in Sinçães, which is currently being finalised and ‘will provide the necessary facilities for the practice of the sport’.
