The 20th Sports Gala was held at the Teatro Principal in Palma, in which 126 Mallorcan sportsmen and sportswomen from thirty different modalities received public recognition in front of nearly seven hundred guests. In this edition, the Consell de Mallorca highlighted its commitment to the fight for tolerance in the field of sport, through the values associated with it, such as diversity, plurality, inclusion, perseverance and respect. In this way, this year’s awards went to sports clubs and entities that are a benchmark in the promotion of tolerance in their respective disciplines.
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The event was attended by a number of sponsors whose sporting careers are an example for Mallorcan sport. On the one hand, the Mallorcan sailor Neus Ballester, 420 sailing world champion in the under 17 category, and on the other hand, the professional skater Jaume Mateu, who participated in the last Olympic Games in Tokyo in this new modality.
As for the awards, the real protagonists were the young Mallorcan athletes who have obtained first and second positions in the championships in the 2021-2022 season. These are 126 children in the federated field of grassroots sport, aged between 6 and 16 years. A tribute to their efforts and to the thirty or so sports that have made the podium. The XX Gala del Deporte has had a good representation of federated school sport, which the Consell de Mallorca supports with annual grants and school sports promotion of different modalities.
Tributes to Alba Torrens, Sete Benavides and Lu Fornés
The special recognition of the Gala has been for the sportswoman Alba Torrens, and for the canoeist Sete Benavides, who have received a special tribute for their careers in the world of sport. The Mallorcan rugby referee Lu Fornés received the Jugam award. Three entities have also received awards: the School Sports Award went to the Balearic U16 indoor football team, league champion in its category; the Social Entity Award went to Baloncesto Run & Gun, for its inclusive work; the IES Arxiduc Lluís Salvador has received the Award in the Educational Centre for its active involvement in sports, and Calvià has been the municipality awarded for its sports initiatives in the last year.
Messages with a lot of value
The ceremony, divided into blocks by values, has counted on sports professionals, such as the first-class referee Guillermo Cuadra, the basketball player Nogaye Lo, the sailor Sergi Roig and the Olympic wrestler Graciela Sánchez, who have contributed their grain of sand with important messages.
The Councillor for Transition, Tourism and Sport, Andreu Serra, opened the event. He said that “the commitment to the fight for tolerance in the field of sport, understood as respect, diversity, plurality, inclusion and positive dialogue as the backbone of the sporting world, is daily”. Serra added that “to create a more egalitarian and fairer society, we need more aware and sensitive sports professionals, as it is in their hands to break down the inequalities and traditional roles that are reproduced through sport and physical education”. She concluded that “tolerance and respect are values of life and that, in sport, there is still much to be done”.
The island’s Director of Sports, Marga Portells, thanked “the invaluable collaboration, not only as great references for high-level Mallorcan sport but also for their human qualities”. Portells remarked that “thanks to the athletes who collaborate with the Consell, we can reach more children, with real examples of self-improvement, respect and perseverance”.
The ceremony was brought to a close by the President of the Consell de Mallorca, Catalina Cladera. Apart from congratulating the athletes recognized today and the collaborators in values of the programs of the Insular Directorate of Sports, present at the evening, has described them as “examples for the transmission of values and for the esteem of the sport”. On the other hand, Cladera added that, in the field of team sports, “sport not only serves to transmit values but also to promote personal autonomy and decision-making”. It’s not just about winning and losing. It’s about having fun, feeling fulfilled and, above all, using sport as a path to personal wellbeing”.
Alba Torrens and Sete Benavides, great references
This year, Alba Torrens, who plays small forward and participated with the Spanish team in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a competition in which she finished fifth and obtained an Olympic diploma, was honoured. She has been voted the best European basketball player of 2011. In the 2020/21 seasons, she played in the Russian league, as part of the UMMC Ekaterimburg squad, a team that – apart from participating in the Russian league – also competes in the Euroleague. Currently, the athlete has signed for Valencia Basket and, therefore, we can see her in the national league.
Another award went to Sete Benavides, for his career and achievements in canoeing, specifically in the still water modality. The rower of the Real Club Náutico del Puerto de Pollensa participated in two summers Olympic Games, and won a bronze medal in London 2012, in the C1 200 m event, and fourth place in Rio de Janeiro 2016, in the same event. Thus, he has twenty-seven medals to his name.