Around 800 athletes and coaches from Castilla-La Mancha will participate throughout this year in the different Spanish School Sports Championships that have started this week with the handball and basketball competitions. This has been highlighted by the general director of Youth and Sports, Carlos Yuste, who has paid a visit to the 124 members of the regional children’s and cadet handball teams that are competing until next January 7 in Benidorm.
During these days, Yuste pointed out, the school sports basketball teams of the Autonomous Community will also be competing, until January 8, in the Spanish championships of this discipline that are taking place in Huelva.
These two championships will kick off a calendar, detailed the general manager, which runs until the month of October. Specifically, in February the swimming championships will take place; in March, the cross-country ones; in April, those of table tennis, taekwondo and judo; in June those of rugby, chess, badminton and basketball 3×3; at the end of June and beginning of July those of road cycling, mountain biking, volleyball and orienteering; at the end of July those of climbing and triathlon; in August, those of beach volleyball; and in October, track athletics.
Yuste has highlighted that, for this year, Castilla-La Mancha will host the Chess Championship, to be held in Albacete, and the Badminton Championship, in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), both from June 22 to 25.
The general director has indicated that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports covers travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses, sports accident insurance, as well as representation and competition clothing.
The ‘Somos Deporte 3-18’ program contemplates as one of its priority lines the celebration of the regional School-Age Sports Championship. During this first quarter of its development, the participation to date is 77,549 schoolchildren and technicians, taking into account that not all sports modalities are underway, such as cycling, triathlon or beach volleyball, among others.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account the lines of initiation and sports promotion that course after course are counting on a greater participation by the educational centers of the region and that during the second and third quarters of 2023 will add a significant participation.
