What a blast! In 2019, thousands of sportsmen and women coming from 100+ countries moved with us in numerous sports modalities across training camps, sports tours, tournaments and corporate events alike.
This is, undoubtfully, our biggest year to date. As we prepare an even bigger and more awesome 2020, let's take a moment to remember a few of this year's highlights.
From training camp to football champions: Move Sports helped pave the path to glory for KV Mechelen
We love to help professional sports teams achieve their goals by delivering the perfect training camp, as we did for the amazing athletes from the ZPCH Synchroonzwemmen, several times national Netherlands' champions in synchronized swimming. They came to us for the perfect training camp in preparation for one of the year's main competitions, the NK Free Combinatio.
Another example from 2019 we're particularly proud of is that of KV Mechelen. For this Belgium professional football team, we produced the perfect training camp in southern Spain at a first-class venue complete with FIFA-sized natural grass pitches, gym and SPA. KV Mechelen went on to win Belgium's 2nd Division and thus moved up to the 1st Division for the 2019-2020 season. KV Mechelen also won the coveted Belgium Cup against historical club Gent, past May 1. Congratulations, boys!
Lisbon is one of the top sports tours destinations in all of Europe
In 2019, we kept busy tailoring the best sports tours for numerous teams, be it football or lacrosse, field-hockey or rugby. They come to us for our impeccable track record when it comes to accommodation, sports facilities and extra care when arranging friendly matches with local teams. And frankly, they also come to us for the sweet, warm and sunny Portuguese climate and for the amazing sightseeing opportunities in Lisbon and around.
To name but a few, we're proud to have hosted SaWusa lacrosse team, but also football and basketball teams from the United States of America. From England came Atherton Town FC boys' football team and Bishops Stortford RFC boys' rugby team. The girls from St. Raphael college in Ireland had a go at field hockey and football as well, having played a friendly match against the very nice girls from Beijing Dongcheng's U15 team, who were in Lisbon for a sports tour of their own.
Sports infused corporate events are great for team-building
2019 was a great year for corporate events! As in previous years, Bimbo Portugal counted on us to organise the Portuguese leg of the Global Energy Race, a solidarity running event open to athletes of all ages and all levels of competitiveness, taking place at 20+ cities worldwide. Also for Bimbo Portugal, we had the chance to be a part of Os Belenenses 100th anniversary celebrations: the highlight was The Donuts Trophy match, played by teams of old Belenenses and Real Madrid stars at the Lisbon's historical club stadium.
Last, but definitely not the least, we are extremely proud to have been the hosts to the 46th edition of the United Nations's Inter-Agency Games. This worldwide-reaching team-building event for close to 1500 officials coming from 50 different UN agencies took place in Lisbon for the first time in its history. Last May and for three days, men and women from 125 nationalities were involved in a lively competition across 13 sports modalities, such as football, basketball, swimming, running, cricket, pétanque or darts, among others. Move Sports took care of every detail, from participants' accommodation to the organisation of all sports events.
Europe's greatest youth rugby tournament - and more to come!
At Move Sports, we're experts at organising all sorts of big sports tournaments. 2019 was no exception on this front.
For Touch Rugby Portugal and the Federation of International Touch, we helped put on the first-ever European Touch Senior Cup on Portuguese soil, back in October. This tournament was played by more than 200 male and female players from 17 teams coming from seven countries/territories.
Also in October, we had the 3rd edition of our own Lisbon Football Youth Cup: a sunny and warm Lisbon welcomed about 600 athletes from 26 teams coming from five countries across two continents to compete in one of the best youth football tournaments in Europe. Check it out!
Back in April, we hosted 3000+ players from 118 teams coming from all over the world to the 11th edition of the best youth rugby festival in the world, our own Portugal Rugby Youth Festival. Just ask Lewis Moody, former English international.
We're not the kind to stand still. That's why we are already preparing the 2020 editions of Lisbon Football Youth Cup and Portugal Rugby Youth Festival. Recently, we also announced three new tournaments aimed at handball and basketball players and fans: Lisbon Basketball Youth Cup, Lisbon Handball Youth Cup and Portugal Handball Legends Cup. 2020 is going to be a big year for sports fans!
Portugal and Lisbon at the top of the (travel) world
In case you don't know by now, Portugal has been considered the World's Best Destination and Lisbon the World's Leading City Break Destination in the 2019 edition of the World Travel Awards. This, of course, is due to our beautiful country's nice weather, friendly people and rich culture - and, may we had, great sports facilities. That's why, back in February, António Cunha, our CEO, said that sports tourism ought to be a national priority.
Therefore, we invite you to come to Portugal and try it out for yourselves! Ask us for our training camps, sports tours and corporate events or join one of our tournaments with your team. Are you ready to Move?
