The finalists of the VI season of the "You're in the Game" contest defended their projects at the Ministry of Sports

On May 21 and 22, 2026, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation defended 34 projects that reached the finals of the VI season of the All-Russian Sports Project Competition "You're in the Game". Participants from 23 regions of the country presented their initiatives to the expert council.

The finalists demonstrated to the experts the strengths of their initiatives, shared the results already achieved and the prospects for development. When preparing their presentations, they took into account the advice they received at the previous stages of the competition and applied the skills they gained during the educational accelerators. All this allowed the contestants to adjust the strategies of their projects, to formulate their goals and missions more clearly.

"The most interesting thing about working with finalists is when you don't just look at projects from the outside, but want to participate in them yourself. For me, this is one of the main criteria for the quality of an initiative. It is such projects that make mass sports truly popular and really change the lives of people around them. All the participants in the final are already winners, because they were able to go through a serious selection process and overtake many, having the opportunity to personally present their project to the expert community. But I am convinced that the main prize here is not even a million rubles, but new experience, knowledge and acquaintance with people who are burning with similar ideas. Therefore, I wish each finalist not to rest on his achievements, regardless of the results he achieves during the competition," said Elena Vetrova, Chairman of the expert council of the competition, President of the Federation of Sports Jumping through an elastic band, director of the Territory of Healthy Sports NGO, social entrepreneur, author of the Native Sport project.

Following the results of the defense, the members of the expert council unanimously noted that the sixth season of the competition was a record not only in terms of the number of applications (6,133, which is almost 10% more than last season), but also in terms of the quality of the initiatives. A variety of projects reached the finals: from inclusive sailing and free sections for children with disabilities to high-tech CRM systems for sports schools and amateur biathlon cups. Many of the finalist projects are already ready to scale to other regions, where they will definitely be successful.

After each defense, the experts asked the authors of the project questions, and the final assessment was influenced by both the competent answers to them and the quality of the presentations. The two days ended with a vote that determined the winners in each of the nominations, as well as the winner of the main prize. Their names will be announced in June.

"Despite the fact that the competition has been held for the sixth year, there are still many new and original projects, including technological ones, among the applications from participants. Some of them are so inspiring that we listened and already mentally planned which activity to take part in in the summer and which one in the winter. Many of these projects are already ready to expand beyond their region, and I am sure that this will happen thanks to the competition," said Andrey Selsky, Director of the Center for Advanced Competencies and Talent Development at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE).

The Expert council includes: Dmitry Yashankin, Honored Master of Sports, Honored Coach of Russia, three-time world champion, physical fitness coach of the Russian Olympic hockey team, Titan of the 2nd and 3rd seasons on TNT, Victoria Shubina, founder of the triathlon division of the World Class club network, official ambassador of Ironman Russia, Andrey Selsky, director of the center Anastasia Baradacheva, founder of the Adaptive Hockey Federation, author of the Children's Sledge Hockey League project, winner of the first season of the You're In the Game competition, Dmitry Kabaylo, Minister of Sports of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Anastasia Tukmacheva, sports blogger, Chairman of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) Healthy Fatherland public movement in Moscow and the Moscow Region, triathlete, ultramarathoner, finisher of the Comrades Back and Forth race, Sergey Perervenko, director of ANO You in Sports, expert on strategic partnerships, graduate of the Moscow State Medical University Skolkovo, Ironman finisher, Vyacheslav Opakhin, editor-in-chief of the Championship sports portal, Leonid Postovsky, Chairman of the Association of Student Tour Clubs, Chairman of the Council of the Student League of Sports Tourism, IT Director of the Federation of Sports Tourism of Russia, Sergey Kryukov, Executive Director of the Association of Student Basketball and the Association of Student Sports Clubs of Russia, President of the RCC and other representatives of the sports industry.