Physical Education and Sports

Abstract

Physical education and sports maintain a position of high prominence in Soviet Estonia, as indeed they do throughout the Soviet Union. The Estonian people have a long tradition of participation in sports and other various forms of physical activity; consequently, the contemporary scene reflects, in part, the pre-1940 heritage. The preceding statements about the aims and philosophy of the physical-culture movement are proclaimed in newspapers, journals, and mass gatherings. The very aims of the physical-culture movement encourage political indoctrination. The organization and administration of the Soviet Estonian physical-culture program follows the all-union model, and allunion changes have also been effected in Estonia. Physical-education teachers and sports coaches receive their professional preparation at the Faculty of Physical Education of the University of Tartu and at the Tallinn Pedagogical Institute. Although the sport and physical-education programs have proclaimed Soviet political objectives, the majority of Estonians participate in them in order to fulfill their needs and desires for exercise, health, and recreation.