In 2008, school sport was approved: there was a consensus among sports agents, federations, schools and administration. The biggest discrepancies were in Gipuzkoa. Schools and the Provincial Council on the one hand, and several federations on the other, mainly the football federation.Iñaki
Ugarteburu, Sports Director of the Provincial Council, explains that they want to promote the practice of sport with school sports, focusing on the following pillars: “Sports diversity is the main feature, and it’s not just about competition. We want to give the children the opportunity to learn about different modalities so they can choose later.” In the opinion of those responsible for the football federation, the model is a reference and innovative, but they are also clear that it harms football: “Football has disappeared at some ages. In the case of Benjamin and Alevin, their hours of playing our sport are not enough to learn how to play football. It should not be forgotten that it is played with the legs and that this part of the body is the most difficult to use. You have to go in a lot of hours.”

With the model that existed 20 years ago, each sport played relatively freely. Over time it has been observed that this model did guarantee participation, but did not guarantee an adequate level of technification, which is why the adaptation followed. The school sport is the pillar of this adaptation. In the words of its supporters, it promotes in the children a predilection for the practice of sport and then gives them complete freedom to practice federated sport. According to the data provided by the Ugarteburu, there are more than 40 modalities of school sports and there is a high participation; in Benjamin and Alevin, a 70-80% participation has been obtained.

Given the large number of modalities, it takes time and proper organization to accommodate all of this. Related to this are the criticisms of the football federation: “We propose to do school sport during school hours and not outside of them, as it is done now. Weekends are free to do what you like. Or, to combine school sport with federated sport, let children do school sport on Saturdays and federated on Sundays in the sport they like.”

The federations say that there is a growing tendency for young people not to play sports, which would change with their proposals: “The doctors propose that one hour a day should be practiced, and now with this time division we are far from there.” Another shortcoming has been mentioned by the Ugarteburu: “We need to improve the training of the monitors and we are doing it. Among the three congresses, we will offer courses and we will start soon.” It also reveals some other shortcomings: “Regarding the protection of athletes, the rule does not allow young athletes to be transferred to another territory until they are 16 years old. “They’re having problems with this.” It’s a common occurrence, and most of the time, it happens in football. This means that these youngsters under the age of 16 only play football, in this case with their club, and sign their children with a younger and younger age. In the opinion of the Federation, “with the new model we can do some things that were not allowed before, such as the creation of football schools in Benjamin, and the practice of Alevín in federated football. But it’s not enough, even if it’s progress.”

The competitiveness of

We hear the word and think of federated sport. They are based on competition, points are distributed in matches, rankings are formed by points... But in school sport there is often a similar organization. Is it possible to combine competitiveness with school sport? The Chief of Staff is in the affirmative: “Without competition there is no sport, activity and/or exercise, but no sport. In any case, the competition, in its size, is good and ideal, motivating, but this should not be the only objective, but the resource. There are also many other areas of school sport: promotional campaigns, learning and leisure activities, etc. It’s much more than a competition.” He made it clear who was responsible for measuring competitiveness: “It’s the job of coaches, teachers and parents to value improvement, attitude and results.”

Parents are sometimes concerned that there is a disproportionate attitude in school sport. This is what the Director of Sports says: “We are also concerned about this issue because the attitude of some parents is unsatisfactory, but who is responsible for it? For all of us, we try to transmit positive values through school sport and we regulate different areas, but it is very difficult to control the behavior of spectators. We need to change the wrong attitudes.”

Almost total competition, at least from the outside, is in football, in federated sport. Gaining at the children’s levels is also a priority before training. As a result, children begin to compete intensely from a very early age. They may even get bored sooner and leave the federated sport. In the football federation they admit that there is a certain age range in which young people stop playing federated sport, but they do not believe that excessive competitiveness is the only reason: “Some football is abandoned in the transition from youth to adults. They start with their university studies, and then they finish the federated sports stage. They are being asked a lot, and when they see that they don’t have the opportunity to climb up the sports ladder, they start in other ‘calmer’ activities, such as the 7 Business Football Championships.”

The fact that people of this age continue to play sports is not a bad goal. Not for supporters of the school sport model, not for those who prioritize federated sport. It is the responsibility of both, it is the responsibility of both to work. After all, the two should complement each other. Iñaki Ugarteburu believes that: “School sport provides quarry, work and various resources to the federated sport, and from the federated sport they offer indispensable technical support to the school sport.”