Volleyball Latvia scoop two prizes at annual ‘Three Star Awards’
News
Even though only a few sporting events took place last year following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the annual ceremony for the prestigious Latvian sports awards, aka ‘Three Star Awards’, took place this past Friday, April 9, with Volleyball Latvia scooping the prizes for ‘Sports Team of the Year’ and ‘Sports Federation of the Year 2020’.
There were as many as 12 awards at stake, including ‘Sports Breakthrough of the Year’, ‘Sports Event of the Year’, ‘Sports Federation of the Year’, ‘Sports Team of the Year’, ‘Individual Sports Team of the Year’, ‘Sports Municipality of the Year’, ‘Sportswoman of the Year’, ‘Sportsman of the Year’, ‘Coach of the Year’ and ‘Paralympic Athlete of the Year’.
Volleyball Latvia was in contention for four of these awards, namely ‘Sports Federation of the Year’, ‘Sports Team of the Year’, through their men’s national team, ‘Sports Event of the Year’, through the CEV EuroBeachVolley 2020 held in Jurmala, and ‘Coach of the Year’ – with Avo Keel, head coach of the Latvia men’s national team, among the nominees.
The men’s Volleyball national team of Latvia eventually received the ‘Sports Team of the Year 2020” award, after qualifying for the final round of the continental showpiece event, the CEV EuroVolley, for the first time in 25 years.
Ingars Ivanovs“We, members of the Latvian men’s Volleyball team, are very pleased and grateful that our achievement from last year, winning a ticket to EuroVolley, was recognised at a national level. Thank you to everyone who cheered for us. Of course, the qualification matches are still in our minds, but now we are emotionally preparing for the finals, so that we can perform as well as possible.”
Libero of Team Latvia
Team Latvia qualified for CEV EuroVolley 2021 last September from a tough qualifier featuring the teams of Spain, Moldova and Cyprus.
Their only previous appearance at EuroVolley dates back to 1995, when they finished the competition in eleventh place.
Next to this, the Latvian Volleyball Federation received the prize for the ‘Sports Federation of the Year 2020’.
Gunta Aizporiete“We are grateful and pleased with this nomination and our recognition as ‘Sports Federation of the Year 2020’, because our work did not stop even in pandemic times and we are always on the run. Tonight we can sit back and enjoy the laurels a bit, but starting from next week, we can get back to work.”
Secretary General of Latvian Volleyball Federation
The ‘Three Star Awards 2020’ gala was broadcast on TV3. Despite the difficult epidemiological situation, the ceremony eventually took place after a postponement announced at the end of 2020. The ceremony was initially due to take place on December 30 of last year, but national restrictions prevented the delivery of the gala. The awards ceremony is organised annually by the Latvian Olympic Committee (LOC), the Latvian Paralympic Committee and the Latvian Sports Federations Council (LSFC).
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