Villas-Boas in the Dragon race: “Let people feel like club athletes” | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas was present this Sunday at the 6th edition of the Corrida do Dragão, where he fired the starting gun. In what was the first time there was “a great partnership between FC Porto and the event’s organization,” with the start and finish next to the blue and white stadium and two routes available (a 10 km run and a 5 km walk), the president emphasized that involvement in initiatives of this kind will become an increasing priority for FC Porto, particularly through its newly created Foundation.

“One of our objectives, through the Foundation, is precisely to encourage amateur sports and to make every member an athlete of FC Porto. That is one of the Foundation’s principles. It will be with initiatives like this that we will promote this type of association, so that people feel an ever-stronger connection with FC Porto and feel a bit like athletes of the club by practicing amateur sports such as athletics. This is one of our goals; it’s good to feel and live so much portismo. A portismo experienced differently from that which is related to the professional success of our sports, not only football, handball, basketball, hockey, or volleyball, but also with the amateur spirit that has been lost over the years. This is what is important to encourage in sports practice, and the Foundation will have a role to play in this,” he said to the club’s media.

Describing the current edition as “an absolute success,” due to the fact that the number of registrations had “doubled,” Villas-Boas stressed that “it is partnerships like this that are worth encouraging” in the name of “well-being, health, and physical exercise.” To reinforce this commitment, two references of FC Porto athletics, Aurora Cunha and Fernanda Ribeiro, were also present: “There are the younger ones, who don’t know them as well but know what they represent, and then all of us, who saw them win and conquer so many trophies and medals around the world. Not only wearing the colors of FC Porto, but also with the colors of Portugal on their chests. That is very important and meaningful; they are two athletes who represented both the nation and FC Porto very well and who are examples for many young people.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.