Clash of the Clubs IV
Meet the Teams: Juventude Vidigalense

4 September 2025

Club Profile

• Started by three teenagers as a youth running club in 1986, Juventude Vidigalense was formally established in 1992 and developed quickly, its senior team reaching the first division of Portugal’s national team championships for the first time in the year 2000 and its athletes regularly taking national championship medals and setting national records in all age groups.

• Currently boasting approximately 1500 members, it is one of Portugal’s largest and most active athletics clubs. Over the years it has made its home base of Leiria a major national centre for the sport.

• In 1994 the club staged a youth throwing event tournament, the Torneio de Lançamentos, which is now an annual fixture that hosts delegations from a variety of countries around the world. The event is the foundation of the club’s exceptional organisational legacy, which includes the 2011 European Champion Clubs Cup for Juniors, six editions of the European Throwing Cup and numerous other national and international events for all disciplines and age groups.

• Website: www.juventudevidigalense.pt

• Instagram: instagram.com/juventudevidigalense

DNA History

• 2025 will see Juventude Vidigalense compete in the Clash of the Clubs for the first time, becoming the third Portuguese club to do so. However, the club is not completely lacking in experience with the format as its athletes took part last year in a domestic DNA match.

Athletes to Watch

• Ernesto Rodrigues (instagram.com/enierodriguess), 19, competed in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the European U20 Championships in Tampere. This year he dropped his personal bests in the 100m to 10.62 and the 200m to 22.06 and was a member of the Portuguese national U20 4x100m team that set a national U20 record of 39.98.

• Seventeen year-old Briton Katerina Quinn (instagram.com/katerinapdaquinn) is also a sprint specialist who has had a successful 2025 season for her club, setting personal bests in the 60m in February (7.76), the 100m in June (12.09) and the 200m in July (25.22) in addition to new PBs in the long jump and 60m hurdles.

• 800m star Nuno Cordeiro (instagram.com/nuno_cordeiro_) will bring a personal best time of 1:48.40 set this summer in Belgium and the experience of competing in last month’s European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere, where his time of 1:50.82 placed him 4th in his first round heat. This summer Nuno, 18, also set a 400m PB of 49.88 at the Portuguese National U20 Championships.