Cuban president hails start of National School Games

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 1 (ACN) Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the country, hailed today the start of the School Games throughout the country.

On X, Cuban President Díaz-Canel recalled that this school sports festival has been held for 60 years, at the initiative of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro.

The School Games have been the first competitions of several generations of Olympic and world champions; I wish much success to the more than 6,500 athletes participating, said the head of state.

The closing ceremony of the event is scheduled for July 15 at the Sports Initiation School (EIDE by its Spanish acronym) Captain Orestes Acosta, in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba.

This year's event includes 33 school disciplines, 12 youth and one pioneer, with the participation of 6,594 athletes and 9,401 participants in general.

In the first edition of these games, there were 3,478 athletes representing the six provinces at that time: Pinar del Río, Havana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey and Oriente, with a team representing the Scholarship Plan as the seventh territory.

As of the 16th Games, held in 1977, there was a change in the national structure, where 14 provinces and the special municipality of the Isle of Youth participated for the first time.