The partnership of technical cooperation and exchange of experience between Niteroi and the city of Nazare in Portugal, in order to develop a joint action plan in the fields of fishing, sports and tourism, has already begun to show results in the exchange between athletes. Niterói Rugby left for Portugal where he will represent Brazil on the Arena Handball Tour by hosting, for the third consecutive summer, one of the Arena 1000 events, taking place between the 23rd and 25th at Nazaré Beach. Since last year, the municipality of Niteroi has held meetings with Portuguese cities, such as Nazare and Braga, to encourage exchanges that generate business in different regions.
“The team that will participate in this competition is already an important form of exchange between cities. We will also support surfing. The Mayor of Nazaré had already been to Niterói and met with surfers and Itacoatiara Beach for future partnerships. We were in Braga recently participating in the Hopem Braga Beer Festival Festival to move the breweries from here to the Portuguese city.We were also in Vila Nova de Gaia and after that, we had the first virtual meeting with the mayor to talk about the possibilities of partnership between cities.This progress between Niteroi and Portugal is important because they are cities with different cultures but at the same time They are similar and can exchange a lot for the benefit of economies,” explained Igor Baldez, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Development of the Municipality of Niteroi.
Arena 1000 is jointly organized by the Portuguese Handball Federation and the Royal Spanish Handball Federation. The team from Niteroi was invited to participate in the competition by the mayor of Nazare, Walter Chicharu, after his visit to Niteroi, in April, when he signed an agreement with the mayor, Axel Grill, to create the “sister cities”. For the Municipal Secretary for Sport and Leisure, Rubens Goulart, this will be a unique opportunity to show the competence of the athletes from Niteroi.
“The Niterói Rugby team is a national reference and we are happy to be a team from our city. This invitation to compete in the 100th arena came after the visit of the Mayor of the city of Niterói and we immediately did our best to make it possible. I am sure that Niterói will be well represented in the tournament, because the potential of our athletes I believe that partnerships with Portuguese cities will allow us to show our strength in other sports as well, ”says Rubens-Goulart.
The Niterói Rugby men’s team is the current Central South American Champion and four-time Brazilian Beach Handball Champion. The team has already won the Rio de Janeiro championship 10 times and has come to compete with foreign teams on an equal footing. With more than 20 stadiums set up on Nazare beach, Arena 1000 is one of the biggest tournaments in the sport and has brought together teams from Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, UK and USA. Uruguay. The women’s team of Niterói Rugby will also compete in Arena 1000. The Niteroi delegation left for Portugal with 22 people: 10 athletes from each team (men and women) and two members of the coaching staff.
Niteroi rugby coach Luis Roberto Araujo says his team know how to play opponents and come to Europe ready to take on foreign teams. After the tournament in Portugal, Niteroi will play two friendlies: one in Corsica, France and the other in Malaga, Spain.
“Brazil is the leader in the beach handball world rankings, so, since we are a Brazilian team, we will arrive with certain expectations and we are ready to match well in the game. European teams have a different type of game, but our athletes are used to seeing them play and know how to play. One of the athletes from Our guys played there until last year and he knows the difference well too. In terms of refereeing, we also need to pay more attention, because it tends to differ from the matches we play here,” says Luiz Roberto.
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