Sports champions return to school

Young people need examples, and the school can provide the right setting where the meeting between students and people who have succeeded in life can occur. The Ministry of Education and the National Sports Agency signed the collaboration protocol for the implementation of the National Program "Champion in school". The partnership will ensure a collaborative framework for the implementation of the program in educational institutions throughout the country, thus contributing to stimulating interest in sports among young people.

The protocol provides for the involvement of at least 47 Romanian sports champions, retired from sports, who will actively participate in the activities of the program, as "ambassadors of school sports". They will be involved in the following activities: physical education and sports lessons, counseling and guidance hours, as well as school sports competitions in the counties and sectors where they were assigned, inspiring students and teachers by their own example. The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, declared:

"Through this protocol, we want to bring the great champions of Romanian sports closer to students and teachers, to inspire and motivate the younger generations to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle. These sports ambassadors will inspire students by their example of dedication, discipline and courage, proving that success comes from respect for the rules and from hard work. Through this program we want to increase the degree of participation of students in sports activities, to develop team spirit and to cultivate a winning mentality, not only on the sports field, but also in everyday life". The program aims to increase the degree of active and systematic participation of students in sports activities and the promotion of sports as a means of improving health and physical and mental condition. Elisabeta Lipă, the president of the National Agency for Sports said in her turn: "This partnership between the Ministry of Education and the National Agency for Sports is a clear proof that, when we work together, we can achieve extraordinary results. Today we plant the seeds of a stronger and more united, because sport does not mean only medals and records. It means correct values, ambition, respect, fair play. Physical education and sport are not only school subjects, but essential tools for the integral development of the child, and through the example of the great champions , we want to show young people that sports can help them become better people".

Among the objectives of the program are: increasing students' interest in curricular and extracurricular sports activities; direct interaction with athletes with outstanding results, as a source of positive examples;

stimulating the organization of sports activities and school competitions at local, county and national level; promoting sport as a healthy lifestyle and as a positive alternative to harmful behaviors in modern society, such as sedentarism, alcohol and drug consumption, juvenile delinquency; stimulating the development of traditional/specific sports in each county; discovering and guiding talented children and young people towards performance sports, within sports clubs.