7. Sportovní škola mládeže
YOUTH SPORTS SCHOOL
After the February of 1948, a united physical education was created and individual sports had their own sections there, led by a committee and a main coach. The main coach of the ski section was Bohuslav Tvrzník, who had many friends and co-workers among the skiers of Nové Město na Moravě. At the beginning of 1952 he asked prof. Jiří Beranovský, a former Nordic Combined athlete and an Academic World Champion, at that time a mathematics and physical education professor at the Realschule in Nové Město, to come up with modern training programs for the youth. The plan worked with a regional selection of talented juniors and a training camp. And a plan for the future was to accommodate the athletes near the school. Nové Město and Jilemnice with the coach Václav Mečíř were chosen as a pilot project. They drew inspiration from similar project in Sweden and the USSR. Professor Beranovský made use of his experience from skiing, but also light athletics to prepare the program and the syllabi.
At the beginning of the school year 1952/1953 the school principals in Nové Město, Žďár, Sněžné, Svratka and other cities were asked to select (based on the collection of the Tyrš’s badge of fitness) students born in 1938 or 1939 to apply for the Youth Sports school with a ski specialization. The entrance tests were held at a stadium in Nové Město.
No later than a week after the tests the selected participants were asked to undergo a physical exam in a hospital. Professor Beranovský with the coach team selected a group of juniors born in 1938 or 1939, each team having ten members maximum. They all received a tracksuit, blue Finnish ski caps and other sports equipment.
The training sessions had 90 minutes and took place once or twice a week. The training sessions at the stadium took place in all kinds of weather. Aside from a joint training session, each athlete had their own individual training plan (usually focused on building stamina), that they followed individually on their free days.
The summer break in 1953 were the last ones for the YSS. The successful system was cancelled and replaced by a Junior Sports School, which focused more on a massive production of athletes (contrary to the elite YSS), and its financial support was very limited.
The ski season 1953 – 1954 was still excellent for the Sports school of Nové Město, despite the changes. They won Champion titles in cross-country skiing, the winning category of the Pioneer news Cup. Doc. Ladislav Slonek recalls: “To our surprise the regional finals of the Pioneer news Cup were held in Žďár nad Sázavou. Our large group arrived to Žďár by train and from there we marched through the square and an agricultural building to a field (the current location of the health centre). This many athletes from the whole Vysočina region surprised the inexperienced organizers. The race dragged on, and our group missed the afternoon train. Sat at the train station in Žďár, in a wooden building, we warmed ourselves by a big wood-burning stove and waited for the next train. We did not mind, because we have won everything we could, the girls even sang and we, boys, bought them lemonade costing 50 hellers. The results did not come until a week later. The Sports school claimed all the first places.”
The Ski Sports School accepted boys and girls aged 12 – 15 years. Throughout its activity, the school had as many as 70 student and ceased its activity in 1958. In total 300 young talents graduated the school.
The Ski Base was founded in 1958 in the stead of the Youth Sports School. It ceased its activity in 1975. It needs to be said that this organization also raised many successful athletes, who represented their country at the World Championship or the Olympic Games.
In 1973 a sports class was opened at the 2nd Elementary School in Nové Město. After 1974, following the foundation of a Ski Association (directed by Stanislav Kopřiva) Training center and the Professional Youth Sports Center in Nové Město, led by Petr Honzl, the city could provide a complex ski talent training for the 10 – 25 age category – not only in cross-country skiing but also in Nordic Combined. The education included lessons in Sports Medicine taught by MUDr. Karel Daňek, CSc.
After the end of the Professional Sports Center in 1991, the sports classes were also cancelled for a few years, and they were reopened in 1996.
Author: LS