Nearly 800 young athletes will compete in the Catalan School Sports Games (JEEC) Territorial Finals in Terres de l'Ebre on 10 and 16 May. The finals will see 63 teams participate in 19 different competitions across seven municipalities, according to L'Ebre Digital.
The events will feature football sala, football 7, handball, volleyball, and basketball. These competitions will determine which teams advance to the National Finals, representing the best school sports talent from the region's various comarques.
The first day of competition, Sunday 10 May, will start in Roquetes with volleyball matches. Categories include children's female, children's male, cadet female, youth female, and youth male. Depending on the number of teams from each comarca, matches will be played as triangulars, semi-finals, or direct finals. This day alone will involve 15 teams and more than seven hours of play.
Main Finals Across Seven Towns
The bulk of the finals will happen on Saturday 16 May. Football sala matches are scheduled in Gandesa for pre-junior boys, Móra d'Ebre for junior boys, Tortosa for under-12s, and Amposta for children's and cadet boys. Football 7 will be played in Sant Jaume d'Enveja for pre-junior category and in L'Ametlla de Mar for junior teams.
Handball competitions will be held entirely in Tortosa, at the Temple and Jordi Angelats de Ferreries pavilions. These will include pre-junior, junior, and under-12 boys, as well as junior and under-12 girls. The junior boys' basketball final will take place in Amposta.
Promoting Values and Healthy Habits
Beyond the competitive aspect, the JEEC programme, run by the Generalitat de Catalunya, aims to promote social values and healthy habits through an educational and participatory school competition model. The programme is open to children and adolescents from the third year of primary school through to the end of post-compulsory secondary education.
At a supra-comarcal level, the programme is organised by the Union of Sports Councils of Catalonia (UCEC). The UCEC delegates the execution of the events to local sports councils, all under the supervision of the Catalan Sports Council. These territorial finals are a space for community and for promoting educational values. Winners will earn the right to compete in the National Finals, which is the highest achievement in the country's school sports calendar. Information about the Territorial Finals is available on the websites of the Terres de l'Ebre sports councils.
