The project Victoria is back

Zdroj: Sport Daily, Robert Kotian

Priority of the reform is to get more children involved in sports


„I want to finish the work that was interrupted in 2006,“ Jozef Tokos, an adviser to the Minister of Education, sports agent and lawyer

Today, Victoria returns as a basic building material for the preparation of the Reform of Sport concept. "We´re keeping almost all of it," says Tokos "the changes in the document will be the subject of discussions during the upcoming weeks. We will prepare a strategic concept of the reform." The authors of the documents are Tokos and Moska mentioned above, with a hockey coach Jan Filc and economist Jan Marušinec. This team cooperates with the Division of Sport at the Ministry of Education.

The expert team is involved in the preparation of material for national football stadium but the alpha and omega of their activity is a new concept of sport. "Right now we need a new strategy paper on sport because previous document" National Sports Development Program" ended last year and instead we have nothing," says Tokos.

Although the problems of sports associations and clubs are not the top priority of the Iveta Radičová´s government, Tokos says that many of the problems in the sport movement have been overlooked for many years. This year´s plans are different, focused on their own priorities: define the public interest, get the children move and achieve success of the representation and talented youth.

Money, money, money...
Tokos´s team has to face one of the key problems of sport in Slovakia - lack of money. The financial situation of sports clubs and associations is alarming. Moreover, even people in the sports section of the Ministry of Education do not know how much funding actually goes into the sport.

 "A billion" (in Slovak crowns) in chapter of Ministry of Education has been almost constant for a long time and except this source, sport gets some finances also from the Ministry of Interior, Defense, Government Office and reserve of the Prime Minister. Sport in the regions would certainly not survive without money from cities, municipalities and autonomous regions, businesses and other supporters of sports.

As Jozef Tokos said: "Our goal is to make changes that will bring more money into the sports, during the upcoming years of this government. To do so, it is necessary to carry out reform of the financing and also, push the priority topics – getting the children and youth moving and better support of representation."

Top Priority – Getting the Children and Youth to Exercise
The fact that the core goals of Victoria project do not change, (goals are to get as many children involved in exercise activities as possible, reach more international successes and promote the sport as a desirable form of entertainment ) supports that before the reform itself a special document should be approved - Development of Motional Activities of Children Strategy.

"Development of Motional Activities of Children Strategy is an order by the prime minister and although it is a part of the reform, it is one of the most important parts and everything else comes from it," says Tokos and adds that "getting the children and youth exercise in physical education classes and after school is an absolute priority for the Ministry of Education and the government in sports."

YOUTH SPORTS
·        Generally, the options of exercising at PE classes are not being used sufficiently at the elementary schools
·        About 30 percent of children regularly apologize from exercising at PE classes, as it is not a graded subject
·        PE curricula in elementary and secondary schools are outdated and ineffective
·        Professional, personal and material potential of schools is not used effectively, PE teachers are not motivated to engage students in sports after school.
·        Condition of schools sports facilities and amenities are inadequate
·        Physical Education in colleges and universities is optional, and dormitories of high schools are not equipped with facilities for leisure sports.
·        Basic swimming practice of children, or ski training for students are mostly cancelled
·        Sports clubs do not have conditions and finances to organize mass, recreational sports for children and public.
(From the material Sport in Slovakia and conditions of its development by Slovak Olympic committee)
Jozef Tokos discloses. In 2005 alongside his colleagues Eugen Jurzyca (the current minister), Peter Golias (think-tank INEKO) and Igor Moska (Slovak Tennis Federation) worked out a project „Victoria – development and popularisation of sport“. The project was not implemented because of the early parliamentary elections in 2006. Five years later, its continuation or rather, remake is expected.

Tokos
did not even communicate with Robert Fico´s government, but as a parliamentary assistant to Lubos Michel (SDKU), he participated in the preparation of the new Sports Bill. The proposal was a mix of the Victoria project and some passages of the Bill on Sport, by the former Education Minister, Martin Fronc (KDH). The mixdown of those two concepts has not been successful, as the draft law on sport has not even pass through the first reading in parliament.

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