Participation of women in sports competitions and their organization for the ukrainian people's republic

Abstract

With the growing participation of women in the social and political life of European countries, their role in sports became more important. From the second half of the nineteenth century, in Ukraine, primarily in Galicia, Bukovina, Transcarpathia, and later with the extension to Volyn, Podillya, Polesie, the Dnieper and the Administrative Sea, cultural and educational, and with them a number of sports and physical, gymnastics and fire, "Sich" and "Sokil" formation, scout and tourist organizations. The "Sich" and "Sokil" sports associations had women's divisions, where Ukrainian girls and women increasingly participated in training and competitions in various types of sports, which served as a basis for the further development and participation of women in sports. Based on the material of sports notes and announcements of the newspaper "Renaissance", the effective participation of Ukrainian women in sports associations, competitions, and the organization of children's sports grounds by place of residence on the territory of the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Hetmanate period (1918–1919) was investigated and established. Women's departments of sports associations operated in Kyiv, for example, at the Ukrainian State University, and other cities and towns, the network of which was growing. The "Sports Society of Physical Development of Women" was founded in Kyiv. For the wider involvement of young people, including girls, in sports, women took the most active part in arranging children's, mainly summer, sports grounds ("sports platforms", "sports fields", "gymnastic grounds-beaches"), where children played during the day, and in the evenings a large number of supporters of games, gymnastics and other sports gathered. The range of sports in which women participated was quite wide. The most popular sports included fencing, dancing, running and jumping in athletics, and games, but their list was constantly growing with the introduction and popularization of new sports disciplines. In order to ensure proper conditions for the development of sports, women directly participated in lectures, training courses for pedagogical personnel on physical education among young people, which were attended by well-known sportsmen, teachers, and doctors of that time. In Kyiv, the initiative group for physical development, with the support of the Ministry of Public Education, opened the first "Courses for the training of teachers of gymnastics, dance and other sports" in Ukraine with a two-year full and a three-month shortened period of study. Residents of the provinces were preferred in admissions, and a "boarding" (dormitory) was organized for the students to live in during the courses. The training of specialists in physical education made it possible to increase the methodological level of classes in general and, first of all, in regional cities, and expanded the geography of women's participation in sports.