The Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament presented the winners of the California Windsurf Cup Pelzerhaken with the BSPC Sports Award. Lena Schmäh, the women’s winner, and Keno Recke, the men’s winner, received their certificates and trophies from Jette Waldinger-Thiering, Vice-President of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament. The award came with an invitation to the BSPC Sports Award gala evening, which took place on Monday 31 August at the Maritim Hotel Timmendorf. This year, the award is being presented at a total of eight sporting competitions across the state and recognises the most outstanding individual or team performance in each event, in addition to the actual tournament victory. Athletes who hold citizenship of a BSPC member state are eligible to participate.
Background to the award
Kristina Herbst, President of the State Parliament, launched the award after the parliament in Kiel took over the rotating one-year international chairmanship of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference last August. The award is intended to highlight sporting excellence and emphasise the role athletes play as role models for society and the political sphere, explained Herbst. The aim of the prize is to promote lasting exchange within the Baltic Sea region and to strengthen democratic values such as respect, fair play and social participation. “Sport has the power to overcome boundaries and bring together people from a wide variety of backgrounds,” emphasised the President of the State Parliament. The newly introduced award thus links sporting competitions with the political objectives of parliamentary cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.
