"Pego, the Navy's Heart" will continue to tour the trinquets with professional Valencian pilota player Néstor Portes. The Pego City Council and the athlete have renewed their collaboration agreement for another year, under which the council will contribute €3.000 to the Pego native's sporting career.
As part of the agreement, Portes will display the municipality's corporate image on its kit during competitions, thus becoming an ambassador for Pego's name throughout the Valencian Community.
"Néstor is an athlete who travels all over Valencia, so he's a perfect ambassador for our municipality. That's why we believe it's a good initiative for him to carry the Pego brand wherever he competes, just like other athletes from our town do," stated Ricardo Sendra, Councilor for Tourism. He also emphasized that this agreement "is a way to support his athletic career, as well as this sport that is so deeply rooted in our region. With this, and with Néstor's help, we hope to promote it."
Portes will have another opportunity to showcase his town's name this Sunday in the Lliga CaixaBank team raspall final, which will be held at the Oliva trinquet. He will compete alongside Montaner and Seve against Ivan, Lorja, and Ricardet.
Linked to Valencian pilota since his childhood, Néstor was crowned champion of the Mixed Savipecho and Mancomunitat de Municipis de la Safor trophies in 2016, a title he repeated in 2017. In 2018, he finished runner-up in the President of the Valencia Provincial Council Cup. 2020 was a particularly brilliant year for the pelotari from Pegola, winning the CaixaBank League and the Mestres Trophy, becoming the first player from Alicante to do so. In 2023, he added another runner-up finish in the CaixaBank League and won the Caixa Popular Cup.
