Niterói, Brazil – July 2023 – The opening ceremony of the 2023 Salesian Games was held at the Don Bosco multi-sports gymnasium at the Santa Rosa school on 10 July. This year the event had an even more special value as it celebrated the school's 140 years of life, the first to be founded when Don Bosco's Salesians arrived in Brazil. In Salesian Pedagogy, sporting activity has always been seen as a means of moral formation and transformation in the lives of young people. Don Bosco, used to say: 'Give yourself ample freedom to run, jump and shout as you please. Gymnastic and sporting exercises, music, declamation, drama, walks are very effective means of achieving discipline, fostering morality and preserving health'. The opening parade was attended by the heads of the college, all students and athletes, as well as past pupils and kindergarten children. The 100-year-old Salesian College Band, which holds the title of Brazil's oldest high school band, took an active part in the parade and ceremony, performing the Brazilian national anthem. Eighth-grade high school athletes were invited to carry the torch, which lit up all the days of the competition.