Promoting sports in schools is one of the aims pursued by regional policies in the education system. In fact, sport is a primary educational tool, also useful for the development and improvement of transversal skills, capacity for self-determination and self-regulation, and ability to work in a group and to relate to others with tolerance and loyalty.

Since the 2016-2017 school year, the Veneto Region has established Sports Days in the school calendar. During school hours, in the presence of teachers, educational and training institutions can organise events and activities aimed at bringing young people closer to sports activities, allowing them to explore the importance of sport in terms of education and health, as well as to learn about sports disciplines available in the area in which they live.

The activities are mainly carried out in the schools but can also be practised at external sports facilities, made available by local administrations or sports clubs. As part of the Sports Days, the Veneto Region provides contributions aimed at covering the costs of transport, access to the facilities, as well as for the necessary equipment and for any prizes.

These are some of the activities related to the Sports Days:

• indoor initiatives carried out during regular school hours in the presence of teachers and using specific sports facilities (e.g. swimming pools);
   
• outdoor initiatives, to learn about and experience outdoor sports;
   
• initiatives to learn about and try winter sports. In the winter season, the Sports Days can be dedicated to the practice of winter sports and activities on snow or ice located in the ski areas/mountain resorts or foothills of the Veneto Region, also with a view to bringing young people closer to some of the sports competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milano Cortina 2026.

For the 2024-2025 school year, an amount of € 150,000.00 was allocated by the Veneto Region for the implementation of the projects planned as part of the Sports Days. The initiative involved 235 schools, located throughout the entire region.