For the first time in history, the island of Lanzarote will host and organize the Canary Islands School Age Championship. A sporting event that in its 31 previous editions has been organized by Gran Canaria or Tenerife, and that for the first time makes the leap to a non-capital island. This is a challenge for the Department of Sports of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, having spent many months preparing for the sporting event that will be held in Lanzarote from Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 April. A Canary Islands School Age Championship in which all the municipalities of the island will participate and where the island of La Graciosa will participate with the celebration of the triathlon event.
On the morning of this Monday, the presentation of the XXXII Canary Islands School Age Championship took place, in an event that took place in the press room of the Cabildo of Lanzarote. The presentation was chaired by Inés Rojas, Minister of Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, accompanied by Migdalia Machín, Minister of Sports of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and Ramón Miranda, Director General of Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands. The presentation served to publicize all the details of the sporting event that will be held in Lanzarote from Thursday.
The Minister of Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Inés Rojas, explained that in Lanzarote "the entire sports quarry of the Canary Islands will meet, with the presence of the island champions." 117,000 young people in the Canary Islands practice some regulated sports discipline, which demonstrates the good health of school sports in the archipelago. A good health that is evident in the successes that are achieved at the national level, being the community that has won the highest number of Spanish Championships throughout history.
Migdalia Machín, Minister of Sports of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, stated that one of the objectives set has been the "possibility of organizing a global Canary Islands Championship in Lanzarote." An objective that they have been able to meet in the current edition, which means for the Minister the possibility of "demonstrating that Lanzarote is prepared to organize important things."
Ramón Miranda, Director General of Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, detailed each of the sports disciplines that will be developed in Lanzarote and explained that "school sports must be cohesive among all the islands." The budget for the XXXII Canary Islands School Age Championship is 400,000 euros, an item that will also serve to cover the expenses of the future champions of the Canary Islands and who have to travel to compete in the Spanish Championship.
13 sports disciplines and more than 1,300 athletes
The XXXII Canary Islands School Age Championship will be made up of a total of 13 sports disciplines and will bring together a total of 1,300 young people in Lanzarote. The sports that will be developed from Thursday and the participation figures are as follows: Volleyball (168), Chess (98), Badminton (75), Basketball (224), Handball (192), Table Tennis (63), Orienteering (56), Athletics (206), Futsal (120), Judo (180), Triathlon (64), Canarian Wrestling (62), Canarian Ball (98).
Lanzarote will have in this edition a participation of around 300 athletes, one of the most numerous in history and with many possibilities to fight for medals in many of the sports disciplines. The selection of athletes from Lanzarote has been made through the Sports Promotion Games organized by the Insular Sports Service of the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
All the municipalities of the island of Lanzarote will participate in the XXXII Canary Islands School Age Championship, hosting in their territory some of the sports modalities. The island of La Graciosa will also have its leading role in this event, hosting the celebration of the triathlon event on Saturday morning.
The closing ceremony of the Canary Islands School Age Championship will take place in the Municipal Pavilion of Tías on Saturday night, starting at 10:00 p.m. An event in which the champions will be crowned. In the past edition, Tenerife was the island that was proclaimed winner of the Canary Islands School Age Championship, followed by Gran Canaria and La Palma. Lanzarote occupied the fourth place in the global medal table.
