The role of public policies and local actors In the development of sports practice: a case study In order to be prepared for the mega-sport events held in Brazil, the State of Rio de Janeiro created in 2010 the Sports Development Index (IDE, in Portuguese), which consisted of mapping and classifying investments in equipment, facilities, human resources, projects, actions and events in the sports area in almost all the cities of the state. The city of Volta Redonda was ranked as the 1st in this ranking and was thus chosen as the research object of this study that analyzed its public sports policies and its main actors, with the objective of identifying innovations and local characteristics that were important to reaching this result. Among the results of the research, the following stand out as differentials: the capacity to obtain resources through notices and parliamentary amendments, its sports infrastructure and the profile of local actors in the field.