More than a thousand students from 22 schools in the province meet in Benidorm for the 'Trobada de Pilota a l'Escola'

More than a thousand fourth-grade students from 22 schools in the province of Alicante participated this Tuesday in the tenth edition of the "Trobada de Pilota a l'Escola 2025" (Piloting Meeting at School 2025), as part of the Valencian Regional Ministry of Culture and Sports' program to promote this native sport among students. The event, also organised by the Valencian Pilota Federation in collaboration with Benidorm City Council, took place at the Guillermo Amor Sports City, where the students spent the morning playing "raspall" and participating in other recreational activities, such as pilota glove workshops, inflatable toys, and traditional Valencian games.

The Councillor for Sports, Javier Jordá, and the Councillor for Education, Maite Moreno, along with other members of the local government, travelled to the Sports City to follow the event with the Vice President of the Federation, Juanra Such, and to greet the teachers and children who attended. There, Jordá emphasised that "22 schools gathered today in Benidorm" to "highlight our quintessential native sport."

The councillor also emphasised that "pilota has one of its most important reference points in the Valencian Community in Benidorm" and that in the city's schools, students can "learn and practice" from the earliest years, "which is complemented," he specified, "by facilities such as the 'Vicent Pérez Devesa' Trinquet or the Carrer de Pilota, which runs parallel to our Palau d'Esports l'Illa de Benidorm."

The Pilota a l'Escola program, celebrating its nineteenth edition this year, aims to promote the practice of Valencian pilota among school-aged children. The project is supported by professional players who visit schools where they share their experiences and teach how to play the different varieties of this sport, such as "escala i corda," played in trinquets, "raspall," and "galotxa," among others. The schools that have participated in this meeting are: CEIP Santisimo Cristo del Buen Acierto in l'Alfas del Pi, L'Olla in Altea, Benicadim in Beniarbeig, Vasco Núñez de Balboa in Benidorm, Mediterránia in Xàbia, CEIP Benimantell, Pare Melchor in Benissa, Santa Maria Magdalena in Poble Nou in Benitachell, Els Tolls in Benidorm, Maria Francisca Ruiz Miquel in Vila Joiosa, Santo Negro in Elda, Pla de Barraques in El Campello, Mestre Gaspar López in Benidorm, Gabriel Miró in Calp, Bernat de Sarrià in Callosa d'en Sarrià, Les Rotes in Altea, Ausiàs March in Benidorm, Gasparot in Vila Joiosa, Balcó in Finestrat, Lope de Vega International School in Benidorm, Bautista Lledó in Benidorm and Serra from Aitana of Benidorm.