The Ministry of Youth and Sports is organising, on the 18th of the current month in Kenitra (10:00 am), the final phase of the 4th edition of the national cross country.

Held in collaboration with the Kenitra prefecture, this sporting event, which coincides with the celebration of Independence Day, will see the participation of 420 children (boys and girls) from the rural world, aged under 14 and from local and regional qualifying phases, organised by the various external services of the supervisory department in 1,287 rural communes, specifies a statement from the ministry.

This sporting event, whose qualifying phases saw the participation of about 80,000 children (boys and girls), is part of the implementation of the contents of the Royal message addressed to the participants in the national sports conference, inviting to broaden access to the practice of sport to target "all segments of society, without any distinction, to disadvantaged regions and areas and to people with specific needs", adds the same source.

It is, moreover, the implementation of the new strategy of the ministry aspiring to open up the rural world and establish it as a main lever for the development and promotion of sports practice, through the discovery of rare pearls and their integration into the structured sports system.

The final phase of this competition will be contested on a 2,000 m circuit in Kenitra, while a 1,000 m race will be organised for the benefit of the city's children. This meeting will mark the kick-off of the 2012-2013 sports season in terms of "promotion of sport", via open days at sports schools at the level of establishments under the ministry's delegation in Kenitra and the provision of local associations with sports equipment and materials.