The government has often said that it’s within our capabilities to produce some champions from amongst today’s young starlets for Russia’s first Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. But we need to start training our future champions now. “Izvestiya” observer Galina Kozorezova spoke to Alina Kabaeva, Deputy Chair of the State Duma’s Youth Affairs Committee, about promoting mass sport for children and youth in Russia and about the need not only to build sports centres, but to make them accessible to everyone.

Alina, you chair the National Media Group’s Public Council. So my first question is about how the media, and television in particular, can help promote sport for children and youth today?

The media can help not only with child and youth sport, but in many other areas too. Television is a good tool for educating and influencing society, and it can and should be used for that purpose. But we often forget about this, and leave the media with just one function – to entertain. So the question is whether television educates society or vice versa. I think it’s television that educates, and this is something we need to focus on: we need to have a system. Coming back to the issue of promoting sport for young people, TV should also be performing a public-information role, or even a propaganda function. We all know there’s a serious shortage of trainers, despite the fact that so many new health and fitness centres have been built in Russia. Let me give you just one example: an amazing new health and sports centre designed for several different kinds of sport opened recently in Rostov region. It doesn’t offer rhythmic gymnastics, however, because there’s no trainer! I was asked to help find someone for that position. I should emphasize that the working and living conditions there are excellent: a good salary, free accommodation in an apartment that’s given to the trainer after five years on the job… But just imagine - nobody wanted to go there, even from Rostov city. Fortunately, I managed to find a suitable candidate, but it was hard work. And how many similar stories are there around the country? So here the media can play another important role apart from education, by helping to create a demand in various regions for graduates from physical education institutes. This would provide an incentive for young specialists and change attitudes towards the profession, and the staffing problem in this area would be solved.

How do things stand as regards free clubs for children?

They practically don’t exist. But the charities can help out here. For example, by funding training for children who are not from rich families at the expense of better-off parents whose children also attend the classes. And actually it’s traditional for charities to help the state tackle social issues. Another problem faced by the children’s clubs is the provision of sports clothing, equipment and so on. During a recent surgery with my voters in Nizhnekamsk I was approached by a woman whose son is doing well at ice hockey. She asked for help buying equipment that costs 25-30,000 roubles. For someone on a salary of 15,000 this is a huge amount of money. The equipment for rhythmic gymnastics is cheaper, but it still costs money. Technology is developing at such a terrific speed these days. The quality of the sports clothing and equipment is also improving all the time. I discussed this recently with Vladislav Tretyak (we met in November in Kazak during the “Russian – a Sporting Nation” forum). He told me how they used to train in the past – in simple woolen tops that would shrink two sizes in the first wash, in gloves that provided absolutely no protection against knocks…and yet they used to win! And in the meantime, little boys in Finland chasing a puck around a courtyard were better equipped that the USSR national ice hockey team! As for sports centres – yes, it’s great that there are more of them now, but they have to be made accessible for mass sport. And that’s something that begins from the school bench. And the schools themselves should also have good sports halls and qualified teachers. All these things have to be brought together. It’s like they say: if your fist’s a finger short, it’s not a fist.

This sounds like a good moment to bring up the subject of federal government programmes.

So far there are no federal programmes dedicated to child and youth sport alone. There is a federal programme called Development of Physical Culture and Sport in the Russian Federation 2006-2015. The Russian government has also approved a Strategy for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport in the Russian Federation to 2020. One of the basic issues highlighted by this document is the absence of an effective system of child and youth sport, for selecting and training a sports reserve for the country’s national teams.

Which are the easiest sports to promote for children and young people in terms of affordability?

Rhythmic gymnastics, of course [smiles]! And you can use the same sports halls for football, basketball, volleyball and wrestling. When I trained in Tashkent there was a time for each kind of sport. We used to come in after the handball and roll out our mats. And after us was the judo. And you don’t need that much money to set up a health and fitness centre. In St.Petersburg they’ve built a wonderful centre called Zhemchuzhina. It’s a rhythmic gymnastics centre with four halls, including a ballet hall, and it also has its own hotel complex. The Japanese rhythmic gymnastics team is planning to train for the summer Olympics in St.Petersburg: they took one look at it and realized that the facilities there are the best in the world!

How accessible is that centre to young kids who are not candidates for the national team?

It’s not just especially promising kids who train in Zhemchuzhina. In fact, I don’t know how many times I’ve seen people come to see Irina Aleksandrovna Viner with a child who is completely unsuited to our sport. So she has to turn them down. But a year later that same persistent little girl is back knocking on the door again, but this time totally unrecognizable. Everyone has access to that centre, because the national teams will use it for training and the funding will come from the federal government, so it will be possible to train kids whose parents are unable to pay the club fees. This is the right way, and it needs to be spread more widely.

What do you think of developing new types of mass sport, such as curling? Although it’s in the Olympic programme, many people don’t even known what it is. Is it worth getting children involved in sports that are not very popular?

Yes, of course. It doesn’t matter whether they are Olympic sports….karate, women’s boxing. Incidentally, I recently interviewed Natalya Ragozina, the women’s world boxing champion. There’s no reserve bench to back her up in Russia, but we need to train the next generation! The Russian Olympic Committee should be providing help to these kinds of sport as well. After all, in the future they might be included in the Olympics. It’s a matter of policy - how many medals Russia, China or the US might win in total if various types of sport are included in the programme. There’s no need to be afraid of taking the first step in this direction.

We’ve already spoken about charity, but what about the charitable foundations?

The foundations should be helping, of course. As for my own charity, we’re building a health and fitness centre in Tskhinval. It will be a multi-sport centre offering rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling and lots of other things. I was in Tskhinval immediately after the events and the whole place was in ruins from the bombing. There are lots of people I’d advise to go there, especially those who are always complaining about things. You come back with different values. And just look at the paralympic athletes! How they win gold medals and the things they achieve! I take my hat off to them!

Which sports in particular do you want to see developing, apart from your beloved rhythmic gymnastics?

Good question. I haven’t really thought about it…I was No.1 in rhythmic gymnastics. I’ve done a lot and am doing a lot for that sport. I may have given up professional sport, but I continue to support it. It’s true that not all Olympic sportsmen have the opportunities. Many end their sporting career and lose their way in life. And I, too, was in a situation where I needed to make a choice and move on. But you shouldn’t be afraid of seeking your way in something new, of taking the first step.

As someone who made her name in professional sport, do people come to you about serious non-sports issues?

People come to me about things connected with sport and about non-sports problems. The other day in Nizhnekamsk a trainer came to see me as his local people’s deputy and said he was short of gymnastics equipment. People’s deputies work in the legislature and there’s a lot they can do at their level, but not everything. And not for everyone, though they do manage to help a lot of people. The thing is, there’s no fund in the State Duma that can be handed out to those in need. More’s the pity! It’s sometimes difficult when constituents come to speak to us. But we try and help as much as we can. I was recently asked for help by a young main who had been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. When they let him out, they refused to pay him compensation. Amidst all the drama his father had fallen ill and died. The innocent man himself was forced to travel back and forth between Nizhnekamsk and Kazan for months visiting courtrooms and government offices. We got involved, of course, and wrote to the public prosecutor, and that helped to seeped things up. The case was resolved and compensation was paid. Wherever the law is being broken a people’s deputy can and should help.

What’s the most common type of request you get?

Social problems. And proposals to make amendments to the law.

Returning to the subject of promoting mass sport, I think master classes or promotional tours around the country by famous sportsmen can help.

Definitely. I try to visit the regions. Some children from Voronezh recently made a short video about their gymnastics school and sent it to me as an invitation to visit. How could I refuse! I’ve been invited to Ossetia as well. When I went to Tskhinval to bury a capsule in the foundations of the health and fitness centre I was asked whether I was an Ossetian. My reply was that if that was what they wanted, then let it be so [laughs]!

What recommendations would you give your State Duma colleagues in the Sport Committee for the coming year?

We definitely need to reinstate mass sport and open free clubs. There are some amazing projects – competitions between schools right across Russia. Events like this are helping to forge a sporting spirit, to teach people to surpass themselves, and to instill a thirst for victory. This is a very important aspect of developing children’s sport. We need to educate trainers as well, and to create incentives for them, including financial ones.

Galina Kozorezova

14 December 2009

Izvestiya