Cantabria announces the 2026-2027 school sports games with 35 disciplines.

The Official Gazette of Cantabria (BOC No. 155, of 13 August 2026) publishes Order CTD/2/2026, of 6 August, which announces the school sports games and regulates school-age sport for the academic year 2026-2027. The regulation, signed in Santander by the regional minister Luis V. Martínez Abad, establishes the age categories, sports disciplines and registration arrangements for the official regional competition.

The Government of Cantabria thus exercises its exclusive competence in the promotion of sport (Article 24.21 of the Statute of Autonomy for Cantabria), within the framework of Law 2/2000, of 3 July, on Sport, which defines school sport as physical-sports activities carried out during non-school hours aimed at the school population up to 18 years of age, with participation always voluntary. According to the text itself, school-age sport records an average participation of more than 12,000 athletes in previous seasons, which requires planning each school year the participation requirements, ages, categories, disciplines and registration calendar.

Age categories

The Order establishes five sports categories, in both male and female, according to year of birth:

• Benjamín: born in 2017 and 2018.
• Alevín: born in 2015 and 2016.
• Infantil: born in 2013 and 2014.
• Cadete: born in 2011 and 2012.
• Juvenil: born before 2011 and up to 18 years old.

In sports that have variations from these general categories, the technical rules of each discipline will specify them with prior acceptance of the School-Age Sport Committee. Participation is voluntary, requires a valid sports license, and registering through two different centers or entities in the same discipline is incompatible.

35 sports, from chess to sailing

The competition starts with 35 disciplines, without prejudice to new ones being added during the school year; football is played only in the female category:

• Team sports: basketball, handball, women’s football, American football, field and indoor hockey, rugby, volleyball and beach volleyball, and baseball.
• Individual and racket sports: chess, athletics, badminton, gymnastics, golf, paddle tennis, skating, tennis, table tennis and triathlon.
• Martial arts and contact sports: boxing, judo, karate, kickboxing and taekwondo.
• Other disciplines: dance sport, bowling, cycling, mountain and climbing, motorcycling, swimming, orienteering, petanque, Olympic and fixed-seat rowing, lifesaving and rescue, surfing and sailing.

Generally, the competition will consist of a regional phase in Cantabria and a national phase with regional teams, called by the Higher Sports Council or the respective Spanish federations.

Registration and competition bodies

Schools and entities registered in the Register of Sports Entities of Cantabria shall formalise their registrations in the School Sport database of the General Directorate of Sport through www.deportedecantabria.es, prior to the start of the season and in accordance with each federation’s calendar. Schools must keep on file the athletes’ documentation: ID card, passport or residence card for infantil, cadete and juvenil, and also the family record book for the alevín and benjamín categories.

A Committee for School-Age Sport, chaired by the head of the General Directorate of Sport and made up of representatives of the Sports Service and the participating federations, will ensure the proper development of the competition. Claims will be resolved by the federations’ competition committees, with appeals to the Cantabrian Committee for Sports Discipline.

The Order, which takes effect from the day after its publication and may be consulted at www.deportedecantabria.com, sets the framework for the next season for more than 12,000 school athletes and their families. The announcement reinforces Cantabria’s commitment to grassroots sport as a formative and educational element, with the collaboration of schools, clubs, federations and sports technical staff.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, No. 155, 13 August 2026, section 7.5 “Miscellaneous” (Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport), pp. 37136-37139 (official reference: CVE-2026-6449, Order CTD/2/2026).