Education Dept. concludes 2025 School Sports Festival

The objective of the School Sports Festival was to promote the physical, mental and social development of students through the practice of sports.

By The Star Staff

The island Education Department on Wednesday held the closing event of the 2025 School Sports Festival, an initiative designed to foster healthy competition, sportsmanship and teamwork among students throughout the public system.

The ceremony took place starting at 9 a.m. at the Puerto Rico Convention Center and was attended by student-athletes from the seven educational regions, covering the elementary, intermediate and higher levels.

The event marked the culmination of the National School Sports Phase of the Physical Education Program, in which competition in basketball, baseball5 (a five-on-five version of the sport) and table tennis were staged in both the girls’ and boys’ divisions. In addition, exhibitions of four additional sports were presented, integrating an environment of inclusion and sports diversity. The activity was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Recreation and Sports (DRD by its initials in Spanish).

“School sports not only strengthen the body, they also form character,” Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés said. “Through these competencies, our students develop self-discipline, resilience, a team sense, and motivation to excel in and out of the classroom. This festival celebrates precisely that: the commitment to their integrated growth.”

The stated purpose of the School Sports Festival was to promote the physical, mental and social development of students through the practice of sports. Through the competitive experience, values such as companionship, respect and self-improvement were promoted, while families and school communities were integrated into a healthy and motivating environment.

Recreation and Sports Secretary Héctor Vázquez Muñiz stressed that “at the DRD we will always support initiatives like this, which honor the rights of our student-athletes to develop their sports skills in inclusive, safe and appropriate environments for their age and level.”

More than 400 students competed in the different sports disciplines and the general attendance exceeded 2,000 people, including coaches, teachers, educational staff and the general public.