Management of Sport Schools

Sports for children and adolescents. Riga has 17 sports schools, 14 interest-based education centres and 147 general education schools for children and adolescents. In these local government-managed educational institutions, students have access to 20 different kinds of sports from the most common basketball, football, through track and field to diving or shooting. Sports schools. The sports schools employ 310 pedagogic employees and provide training facilities for 8,749 youngsters (8% of city's students). The sports schools have created an environment from which very first-class athletes emerge. For instance, Igors Vihrovs, who won a gold medal in gymnastics at the Olympic Games in 2000, as well as Jevgenijs Saporenko, who followed suit with a silver medal at the Olympic Games in 2004, both have trained at the Riga Gymnastics School.

Sport events. The sports schools, interest-based education centres and general education schools of Riga organise sports camps during school holidays. There are outdoor camps open to all school age children and young people, but there are also camps for individual and team sports.

Sports activities for children, students and young people in Riga are coordinated by the sports organisers of the city's districts and neighbourhoods, working together with sports instructors and sports school trainers. The goal is to involve as many children and young people as possible, to organise sports activities at schools, and to ensure the participation of schoolchildren and young people in city and national sports events. Each year more than 150 competitions and youth championships for children and young people are organised.

The department also organises a contest that is called "The Best Children's and Adolescents' Sports Club or Organisation in Riga". The aim is to promote the involvement of children and adolescents in sports and to promote the participation of the most talented of these youngsters in international competitions. The contest is open to non-governmental organisations and sports clubs. The winning organisation receives financial support.

Management. Sporting activities are the responsibility of the Riga City Council's Department of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports that is supervised by the Council's Committee on Education, Youth Affairs and Sports.