Latvian Sports Dance Federation (LSDF) board member Aigars Svars and Latvian Checkers Vladislav Vesperis, President of the Federation of Latvian Sports (LDF), believes that the public should improve their knowledge of both sports, the functionaries did not hide in a conversation with the Latvian Television program “Sports Studio”.
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Latvian Television has already interviewed several sports officials who have expressed different views on Ministry of Education and Science (MES) working group for determining priority sports.
In one of the tables offered by the working group, both checkers (6th place) and sports dances (7th place) took the top ten. The approval of such criteria could allow both sports to qualify for more public funding.
“I think no miracle happened,” says LSDF board member Aigars Svars. “If we look at the criteria tables of the Latvian Council of Sports Federations (LSFP), then at least for the last 15 years, sports dances have always been in the top ten. Those criteria are better or worse, more correct or more incorrect, but we are already there.”
Until now, the status of a non-Olympic sport has hindered the acquisition of more ambitious state support for sports dances.
“In the LSPF criteria table, we are given a coefficient of less than 1. Since we are no longer automatically on the same starting line. As far as the Olympics are concerned, I can now say with confidence that we are on one foot, because the break is our international member of the federation and officially scheduled for the 2024 Paris Olympics, “says a sports dance spokesman, who believes that the current system should be improved, but not destroyed.
Among the advantages of sports dance, the functionary lists their availability throughout Latvia, the good results of athletes in the world, as well as the world championships held in Riga over a period of 20 years.
“There are 79 sports dance clubs in our federation and the number of individual members is over 1,500. These are dancers who regularly dance in official competitions, who have start books. They collect points, go from class to class,” says Svars. “We are members of all international organizations. By the way, our World Federation of Sports Dance brings together 91 countries on all continents. If someone doesn’t know something, broaden your horizons.”
Vladislav Vesperis, President of the Latvian Checkers Federation, believes that the majority of the public does not consider it a sport. According to him, different activities only enrich people.
“Here, I think, to some extent there is also the work of educating society. A person is made up not only of physical sports, but also of the education system, thinking, intelligence, so that a person is a harmonious personality that we want to see in society as a whole,” says Vesper.
Vesper points out that it would be important to understand the purpose of the sport. LDF believes that one of them is to carry the name of Latvia in the world in international tournaments, but the other is a healthy and smart society.
Several Latvian checkers are considered to be among the best in the world. Guntis Valneris currently holds the second place in the world competition, but has won 16 world championship gold medals. Zoja Golubeva ranks fourth in the rank.
“If we have three players in the world ranking in the men’s table – two more besides Guntis Valner – then I think we are very good at the adult level. We are also at the youth level. We have several young players who have won medals at European and world championships. “This means that there is also a young person who is very good, has a perspective and can enter the adult competition just as successfully,” says the president of LDF.
The sport is represented by more than 1,000 players, most of whom are young people. True, Vesper does not hide that he does not have a lot of money or prestige. He would like to use the additional funding to expand the geography of checkers and gain more support in the education system, where checkers can be offered from kindergarten onwards.
“Checkers need that support anyway, because the achievements are equal, but maybe the sport is not so recognizable and popular in society. But this person has already worked just as hard to achieve their high results,” says Vesperis.
In the proposed criteria, 30% are sports achievements, another 30% – mass in Latvia, 20% in the tables of criteria are dedicated to the involvement of young people in a particular sport, 15% – access to the sport in Latvia and 5% – gender equality or whether the sport can be practiced. both men and women.
The media MVP has already indicated that the existing criteria provide federations with the opportunity to apply for part of the state funding if they meet two of the three national goals listed below: Olympic medal, mass in Latvia, significance – world fame and Latvian pride.
As an alternative, a table with only achievements is also proposed.
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