The Formentera Council's Office of Sport has partnered with APNEEF, an association for Eivissa and Formentera residents with special needs, in organising an outing with children from the group. Participants will be taken for a ride at sea on a special accessible sailboat which the administration acquired last summer.

A group of ten—toddlers plus accompanying family members—came out for the day-long event on Saturday, September 30, which consisted in a three-hour tour of a stretch of Formentera's coast. Concurrently, it was an opportunity for the children to discover sailing in family.

According to CiF sports secretary Jordi Vidal, outings like last Saturday's are what the escola de Vela, or “sailing school,” is all about: “Bringing people on board with inclusive, recreational activities at sea”. The specially-designed watercraft was bought thanks to support from Obra Social La Caixa.

Vidal says that, depending on interest, more such activities could be on the horizon. He also hinted at similar programming for patients of the island's dependent care centre, or centre de dia. The outing had the support of Club Surf Formentera.

Tonight Formentera celebrated its 2016/2017 Gala de l'Esport, an evening to recognise and pay tribute to individuals, organisations, clubs and private entities that dedicated to sports.

Awards went to:

-Best sportsman/sportswoman in the 2016/2017 season. Mateo Sanz, for qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning seventh in the world and fourth in Europe for RSX windsurfing.

Other nominees in the category included Andrea Romero (athletics), Marcos Contreras (football), Gemma Lairón (tennis), Mia Chastaing (judo) and Jacobo Domínguez (trap shooting).

-Best sponsor. Formentera's civil protection league, or Protecció Civil, for the commendable work of their volunteers, allowing sporting events to be celebrated locally. Without them such events could not happen.

Other nominees in the category included Trasmapi, Balearia, Carbónicas Tur, Frufor and Caixabank.

-Best sporting association. SD Formentera, for securing a place in Second Division B and qualifying for the round of 32 in the Copa del Rey, a match that will pit the club against a First Division team for the first time in history.

-Most renowned promotor of sport. Eugenio de la Dueña Medina (sixth dan in judo), for a 30-year dedication to teaching and promoting judo on the island.

The jury voted to give posthumous special mention to Josep Marí i Antoni Torres, for a lifetime on the SD Formentera team, on the players' roster and on management.

The jury, made up of 15 representatives from different sports groups and political groups with representation on the Formentera Council plenary, was chaired by the secretary of sport. The administration's sitting president acted as the jury's honorary chair. The jury met July 17 in the hall of ceremonies, or Sala d'Actes. The awards show took place this evening, Friday September 29, and was also attended by the Balearic minister of sport, Fanny Tur. 

Friday, September 29 at 8.30pm, Formentera will welcome the island's Gala de l'Esport 2016/2017 to the cinema. Jordi Vidal, head of sports at the Council, says the gala was “conceived to honour people, associations, sports clubs and private entities that devote efforts to fitness and sport”.

Distinctions will be given for:
- Best sportsperson of 2016/2017
- Best sponsor/partner
- Best sports group
- Most work in support of sport, nominations
- Two panel-selected “honorary mentions”

The panel, composed of 15 spokespeople from the different groups on the CiF plenary and chaired by Secretary Vidal and honorary chairperson (and sitting CiF president) Jaume Ferrer, met on July 17 in the administration's hall of ceremonies to choose the honorees.

In addition to an appearance from Balearic sports secretary Fanny Tur, Vidal encouraged the whole island to come pay tribute to the island's leading lights in sport.

According to a report issued today by the Formentera Council's Office of Sport, 77 Formentera residents got financial help paying for recreational scuba-diving classes in 2017 with funding made possible by a deal between the Council and Vellmarí dive centre.

Thirty-seven individuals signed up to take an introductory course at a 50% discount, 15 received 60% off a “junior” course and another 25 students got instruction for ongoing divers at a 38% discount. All told, the funding totalled €7,000.

The administration hopes to see more islanders taking an interest in the island's undersea life and scuba-diving. To CiF sport secretary Jordi Vidal, conditions on Formentera “make it a no-brainer as a destination for the activity”. The Council's partnership with Vellmarí spans more than a decade. During that time, upwards of 700 residents have received specialised diving instruction, which Vidal describes as “a way to educate people about the vast wealth of our undersea habitats and posidonia meadows”.