摘要:The present study had as its objective to verify and analyze the motivating factors that make teenagers choose the capoeira practice in the school. The sample was composed by 18 boys at age of 11 to 14 years old who were capoeira practitioner in public schools from Santa Maria – RS. The evaluating tool used was the Inventário de Motivação para Prática Desportiva de Gaya e Cardoso (1998), which classifies the motivating factors in three categories: sport competence, health and friendship/leisure. The results indicate that the factors associated to health and friendship/leisure are the most relevant for teenagers who look for the capoeira practice in the school region. The analysis of data still revealed that the motives towards the competition and the matter of being the best in the group are less importance for the teenagers and that the sympathy for sports influences them significantly.