Objective of the study was to scientifically substantiate the innovative "Sports Leader" project as a factor of development of the physical culture and sports sector at the regional level. Methods and structure of the study. When developing the project, the authors used the following general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, and comparison. The project was initiated upon inclusion of the Sverdlovsk region in the number of experimental sites that ensure the involvement of focus groups in regular physical education and sports activities under the "Sport as Life Norm" federal project. Results and discussion. The "Sports Leader" project was designed to train not only sports leaders but also mentors. One of the fundamental principles of this project is individualization of the training process - the development of an individual trajectory for training of sports leaders with due regard to students' talents. The project proposes the use of a mentoring system with the participation of instructors from among trainers-instructors and (or) specialists of the GTO Complex test centers. Two educational programs are planned to be implemented: for students and for mentors. The project implementation should lead to an increase in the share of citizens leading a healthy way of life and regularly engaged in physical education and sports activities, prevention of destructive behavior of adolescents, strengthening of the family institution and popularization of family values, expansion of opportunities for the use of active forms of leisure for the population. The authors conclude that, despite the fact that this project was initiated within the framework of development of the physical culture and sports sector, the underlying potential enables to solve a set of social tasks. And in case of successful testing of the proposed methods, this project can be used not only in the Sverdlovsk region, but also in the entire Russian Federation.