David Holler
Dear visitors,
dear athletes,
dear deaf community,
dear supporters,
If I call Germany a “winter sports nation”, I’m certainly not too far out the window. Magdalena Neuner, Felix Neureuther, Tobias Angerer and many other winter sports stars from Bavaria and Germany have been able to celebrate outstanding successes in the past.
Athletes like Philipp Eisenmann also celebrate great successes in winter sports in the deaf section, including the first World Ski Championships for the Deaf 2013 in Nesselwang in the Allgäu. Many beautiful memories and stories are still told today by this World Cup.
Now – almost exactly seven years later – the “Snowfestival 2020” will take place at the same location for the first time. Alpine skiing competitions, as well as competitions in biathlon, curling, cross-country skiing, snowboarding and snow volleyball and an extensive supporting program will hopefully give us all unforgettable experiences, exciting competitions and beautiful stories. Just like a good seven years ago.
I am happy to be the 1st Youth Chairman of the Bavarian Deaf Sports Youth in the BGS e.V. to organize the event together with the German Deaf Sports Youth.
I am particularly pleased that we could win a former and successful winter athlete Mrs. Katarina Witt as patron for this event. For many, her Olympic successes will be remembered in 1984 in Sarajevo and in 1988 in Calgary.
The Snowfestival would certainly not have been possible without the Katarina-Witt-Stiftung, initiated by Mrs. Witt in 2005, as well as the support of Aktion-Mensch, the city of Nesselwang and the ski club Nesselwang e.V. I would like to thank you for that.
Maybe there will be someone who stands out at the Snowfestival competitions and starts a great international career in deaf sports. In this hope, I wish all participating athletes much success and hope for a great response from the audience.
David Holler
1. Youth chairman of the Bavarian deaf sports youth