For the first time there was an athlete award in Eching. And that was suspicious of the Olympic Games.
Eching - rating "very successful": At the premiere of an official sports ceremony on Friday evening in the Echinger Bürgerhaus, successful Echingen athletes and athletes of all kinds of sports - from dressage riding to gymnastics all-round to water jumping - and for all ages were the focus. Mayor Sebastian Thaler, on whose initiative this public appreciation for exceptional sporting achievements was organized for the first time, honored a total of 18 individual athletes and eleven teams from U 10 to Ü 80 in a total of more than a dozen disciplines from nine clubs.
The oldest top athlete is over 80
Thaler personally moderated the festive evening. When the certificates were handed over, the guests learned from his informal conversations with the honored people how much time, ambition and energy successful athletes (have to) spend. In the individual disciplines in particular, the supposedly weak sex was significantly overweight with 15 athletes over three male representatives, including 80 plus (he did not want to reveal his exact age) as the oldest top athlete and only athlete Georg Haltmeier, winner of the Upper Bavarian cross-country race in his age group , The strongest contingent and a real figurehead was Jazz & Modern Dance, a division that, in contrast to the footballers, athletes, swimmers and tennis players who are also represented, is usually less in the focus of the population and media interest. The group Next Generation from successful coach Natalya Menzel won the title in 2019 at the World Championships in Jazz & Modern Dance. During her life appearance on the community center stage, Vice World Champion Anna Broska (10) gave an impression of the level of dance at the top of the world.
Award for four particularly committed people
There was also a surprise ceremony for four volunteers who (not only) made a special contribution to sport in their home community last year. And there they could agree on a parity, as Thaler noted with a wink. Jill Ellegast and Katja Grothmann were honored for their dedicated efforts and the implementation of the cross-club Echingen Children's and Youth Sports Festival in summer 2019. Their drive and goal: "To get children moving" - because, according to Ellegast: "Sport makes you smart". With Winfried Matschke and Walter Gaber, two veterans of the Echingen tennis sport were honored, which have been the soul of the club for years - and helped significantly to keep the club business together in the difficult times after the destructive fire in the tennis hall - and the club running.
The official part was followed by informal conversations and a look outside the box - certainly a desired side effect at this special kind of athlete meeting.
Also read: "Something has grown together": Strong 2019 gives TSV Eching hope for advancement