Sport masowy na Ziemi Gdańskiej w latach 1945–1989

Abstract

After the Second World War, physical culture in Poland undoubtedly became an instrument for strengthening the position of communist authorities in public. However, despite the unfavourable political aspects, participation in mass sport has definitely contributed to the integration of local community, followed by collective social initiatives. The rebuilding of structures of physical culture in Pomerania proceeded differently in comparison to other areas of our country. Several factors contributed to this, including economic, social and demographic changes that took place after the end of warfares, which were closely related to the process of settling and developing the Regained Territories. The Society of Physical Culture Propagation had the most important role in the dissemination of physical culture. It was followed by: Provincial Sports, Tourism and Leisure Center named Balt-Tourist, with its counterparts at the lower organizational level, The Municipal Sport, Tourism and Recreation Centers of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, which often organized Saturday and Sunday leisure time as well as The Polish Tourist – Sightseeing Society, while among youth organizations the Polish Scouting Association. The term “mass sport” was a product of the PRL period, to a large extent its existence was a fiction, along with the progressing ideologisation of physical culture, based on the Soviet model. At the same time, the proposed activities were a form of spending free time and the possibility of joint family activities, integration of the local community.