The work Sports environment and care: effects on maturational process deals with environmental facilitation: from care actions arising outside of the family environment, to the human development process itself. Based on Winnicott s theory of personal maturation, with emphasis on the concepts of facilitating environment and care, it sought to highlight the possibilities through which a sporting environment can positively contribute to the lives of children and adolescents. To achieve this goal, a specific sports social project whose philosophy values the formation of citizens, not athletes, was analyzed. Then, ten former participants of the social project s sporting and educational activities, who have spent at least five years attending the project, and who have followed different careers rather than becoming professional athletes, were selected and submitted to a semi-structured interview, with hidden script, on the following themes: personal records and history within the social project; input on reasons for enrolling, staying and leaving the project; personal growth and learning; and the sports-educational environment. It was found in their answers that, although cherished, the sports issues are less stressed than those concerning the relational aspects of attending a sports-educational environment. Such relational aspects, in fact, led to the respondents permanence in the project and were, according to them, responsible for the learning that they report having had. The impact of participation in the project off-court is also emphasized, especially concerning their self-esteem and sense of empowerment towards life, interpersonal relationships (at home, at work, in college) and in their sense of ethics. To analyze the interview data, content analysis, as proposed by Laurence Bardin, was used.