The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture stressed in Capelas the effort of athletes, clubs and sports agents in the "assertion of Azorean sport in the national and international context."
 
Avelino Meneses spoke at the session of the 15th Azorean Sport Gala that took place on S. Miguel Monday, stressing that sport is what "best demonstrates the importance of unity as a means of achieving goals."
 
In his speech, the Regional Secretary pointed out sport as "a right for all," stressing the programmes and activities that the Government of the Azores has been developing over the years with the aim of implementing this social right.
 
The creation and multiplication of school sports clubs, the Active Azores programme, sport for people with disabilities, the free access to sports facilities and the support to training and competition were some of the examples pointed out by Avelino Meneses of the Azorean Government's strategy.
 
In this legislative period, the working groups created under the school sports projects and the support to training and competition of youth teams grew from 1,209 to 1,514.
 
In this sense, he stressed that the Azores will continue to be "a national example" in sport.
 
With more athletes and better results, Avelino Meneses expressed his belief that the Azores will soon have "a rising number of athletes" to compete for entry to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, a goal that was nearly achieved for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
 
In this session of the 15th Azorean Sports Gala of S. Miguel Island, which was held in the village of Capelas, 14 personalities and 27 athletes and clubs were distinguished for the results and scores achieved as well as for international participations in individual and collective sports. Moreover, 16 athletes were also distinguished for their participation in national teams.