Santander, (EFE).- Athletes are competitive by nature and Laura Nicholls and Beatriz Pellón, from Santander, who know what it means to succeed in basketball and tennis, now also want to do so in the May 28 elections, which they are running for the objective of being the new Councilor for Sports in her city.
In an interview with EFE, Laura Nicholls (1989) recounts what it means to be number 4 in the PRC candidacy for Santander City Council, which Beatriz Pellón (1960) also opts for, albeit for the second time, and this time as number 13 of the list of the PP.
Despite not sharing acronyms, both have in common that they want the 28M an absolute majority for their respective formations, although without losing “respect for the rival” or the values that they championed during their sporting careers.
Neither of them negotiates the effort and they see politics as a tool to return to the sport what it gave them at the time and also to do something for their countrymen.
Help, help and help
“I just want to help. I don’t want to get rich or earn a salary, I want to dedicate all the effort and give all my knowledge of the sport”, says Laura Nicholls.
After his retirement in March 2022 from professional basketball after winning three European titles with the Spanish team, an Olympic silver, and a World Cup, Nicholls feels he has a “moral obligation” to take responsibility for those who want to play sports and cannot.
“That’s why I’ve taken the step, I know I’ve lost my reputation, but I weighed in showing that things can be done much better and, on the other hand, not doing anything with my life, which seemed very selfish to me,” he explains.
Nicholls, who is part of the candidacy of Felipe Piña, whose list also includes former soccer player Gonzalo Colsa as number 3, assures that when the regionalists offered him this opportunity, he was clear about it. “I’ve been seeing problems and abandoned federations that don’t even have facilities for two years,” he laments.
In addition, he wants Santander sport to be “the reflection of Cantabrian sport”. “Being the capital, it has the obligation to be a pioneer in all kinds of sustainable policies,” he says.
More sports facilities
Nicholls sees “very sad” that “the only sport” that can be done in Santander is on the bike path between the Botín Center and Los Peligros beach and regrets that, for example, the Palacio de Deportes is not exclusively dedicated to sports . “They are more concerned with circuses, literally, than with sports.”
He is aware that running the sports area in a city like Santander is complicated and can even damage his reputation, but he likes challenges.
“I have never liked basketball, what I liked most about my sport is that every day had to be better, every day was new and what you had done the previous one was not worth it. It’s going to be the same, a four-year long-distance race”, he affirms.
Laura Nicholls understands the doubts that the arrival of an athlete in politics can generate. “People have to do it, so they doubt my skills until I prove them,” she says.
“I respect that people think that I am a new Ruth Beitia – who for a couple of weeks was the PP candidate to preside over Cantabria in the 2019 elections – because that did a lot of damage. Only time will tell that I can do things for the rest and, maybe I’m not capable and I’m wrong, but whatever it is, I want to work and do things well ”, she highlights.
And anticipate that it will be respectful in this adventure. “I am the great athlete that I have been for my rivals,” she adds.
More than a way of life
Beatriz Pellón is synonymous with sport. She was an international hockey player, she won the absolute Spanish championship in almost all tennis categories or the world paddle tennis crown, in addition to having tried other disciplines such as basketball, bowling, golf or soccer.
In a telephone interview with EFE from Palma de Mallorca, where he is competing in the national tennis championship for veterans, Pellón assures that he has embarked again on the political adventure because “he wants to do something for the sport of Santander”.
In the last elections, he was only one position away from becoming a councilor on the list of Gema Igual, with which he repeats his objective.
Pellón defines himself as a person who works and knows the Municipal Sports Institute well, where he currently works. “My professional life has been linked to sport all my life,” he adds.
Directing a sports institution would not be a novelty for her either because she already knows what it is to coordinate the tennis and paddle tennis area at the Club de Campo de Madrid.
“I have done everything I had to do at a sporting and professional level. Contributing something to Santander is what could make me most excited ”, he emphasizes.
Santanderina “through and through” and with “a few ideas” to improve the situation of sport in Santander, an area directed by Ciudadanos, Pellón laments that “four years of doing a lot of things have been lost.”
Sport lived day by day
“A lot of time is being wasted, the Councilor for Sports has to be a person who sees the Complex every day, talks to the employees and knows how everyone works,” he says.
In addition, it intends to improve other types of facilities such as bowling alleys and pay tribute to athletes from Santander because “many and very beautiful can be made”.
He takes several lessons from sport that he wants to extrapolate to politics, such as work, perseverance, the search for perfection and, above all, friendship and values. “I have the best friends in sports,” she says.
Pellón is very familiar with the institutional plan. In fact, she has taught politicians such as Javier Arenas or Antonio Zapatero and has shared the dance floor with former president José María Aznar.
Like Nicholls, he aspires to get an absolute majority “because Santander deserves it for four quiet years” and also to be a Councilor for Sports, which would leave him little time to play tennis. “I would organize myself to take a couple of hours a week to go to the gym and play a game,” he says.