PhD, Associate Professor V.G. Volkov¹
Dr.Hab. Associate Professor А.А. Pashin¹
PhD, Associate Professor А.N. Khmelkov1^1
1Penza State University, Penza

Keywords: academic sports, sport club, physical education, Physical Culture Institute, Physical Education Department, Russian Summer Universiade.

Background. Students and physical education and sport specialists of Penza State University have made a great contribution to the modern academic sports in the Russian Federation. It had been the faculty of the Special Physical Education Department later on reformed into the Physical Education and Sports Institute of PSU that largely established the academic sports in the Penza region.

Objective of the study was to analyse the extensive practical experience accumulated by the sport organisations of Penza State University.

Study results and discussion. It was in early 1950ies that the Penza region was in need of a special specialist training education institution albeit the first education establishment of that kind, a Physical Education and Sports College (PESC) was established in Penza in 1944 and operated till 1955. For the decade of its operations, the PESC had trained hundreds of physical education specialists and actually laid a foundation for the Special Physical Education Department.

The latter was established pursuant to the Council of Ministers of the RSSR Regulation #4090 of

12.11.55 and the Minister or Education Order #188 of 26.12.55; and started its operation on 01.09.1956 under Penza State Pedagogical Institute named after V.G. Belinskiy (PSEI) with the entrance quota of 50 students. Since 01.01.56, the former PESC educational assets, physical and human resources were formally handed over to the Pedagogical Institute. At that time Dean S.E. Frenkel headed the newly established Special Physical Education Department.

The academic sports at PSEI in 1960 showed a fast progress, with its faculty being no less enthusiastic than the students. Thus, in March 1961 the PSEI sport club qualified for participation in the traditional Sport Festival of Volga Region Academic Faculties and won the first place in the five-day-long competitions. By 1970ies the Special Physical Education Department had significantly built up its physical assets, equipment and human resource and intensified its activities to find new activity models and methods in every domain; and these efforts very soon made it one of the leaders among similar academic departments.

In 1974, the men’s picked team of PSEI trained by Coach A.L. Slastunov won a bronze medal in the finals of the Pedagogical Universiade (in Kazan city) sponsored by the Ministry of Education of the RSSR. In 1978, the men’s picked volleyball team of PSEI was a winner of the second-group competitions of Burevestnik Voluntary Sport Association (VSA) of the RSSR in Bryansk and was ranked among the top twelve academic volleyball teams of the RSSR.

In the late 1980ies to early 1990ies, the Special Physical Education Department was the largest department in PSEI and one of the largest among the peer departments of Russian pedagogical universities. In 1991, the State Committee for National Education of the USSR nominated the Department a leader of the academic Physical Education discipline for an association of six pedagogical universities of the Volga Region.

It should be noted that the academic sports system at that time was flourishing on the inflow of gifted students who received their background training from the sport school system in the Penza Region and other regions of European Russia. Many successful athletes of the Surgut Territory have started their sport careers at the Special Physical Education Department. Students and alumni of the Special Physical Education Department have been the winners of the Burevestnik VSA competitions, RSSR/ USSR/ Russian Federation Championships, Universiades, World and European Championships and Olympic Games in many sport disciplines many times.

Physical Education and Sports Institute (PESI) has evolved to a research school for many leading specialists of national rhythmic gymnastics including Yanina Zatuliveter (multiple World Champion), Yevgeniya Bochkaryova (World Champion), Natalia Lavrova and Olesya Belugina (Olympic Champions); and T. Vasilyeva and O. Stebneva (Honoured Coaches of Russia). A few leading specialists in artistic gymnastics including S. Starkin, V. Starkin and many elite athletes, were trained at the Physical Education Department.

Pursuant to the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Order #320 of April 23, 2012, PSEI was incorporated into Penza State University and merged with the latter’s Physical Education and Sports Department headed by A.A. Karpushkin, a highly knowledgeable and responsible manager. This initiative gave a great impetus to the academic sports in the Penza Region after unification of the two powerful departmental sport teams. In 2013 the Department’s contribution to the academic education and sport process was acknowledged and the Department was reformed into the Physical Education and Sports Institute firstly directed by A.A. Pashin, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences.

As thing now stand, more than 500 students in a variety of specialties including Physical Education; Pedagogical Education; and Adaptive Physical Education at the master and post-graduate courses are being trained at PESI. Modern sport assets in disposal of the PSU students include a sport building with wrestling and gymnastics gyms; team sport facility; swimming pool; indoor stadium Tempo; outdoor stadium Trud; universal sport complex; weightlifting gym and a few other training gyms.

For the last few years, the PSU students have been particularly successful in many events. Thus the PSU artistic gymnastics team won the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Russian Student Championships, with the following leading PSU gymnasts deserving to be mentioned: Honoured Master of Sports D. Ablyazin, multiple Olympic medallist; World Class Master of Sports P. Pavlov; World Class Master of Sports O. Ugarova; Master of Sports D. Kharkov; and Master of Sports D. Turaev. Presently the PSU academic team is led by World Class Master of Sports S. Stepanov, multiple winner of the Russian Student Championships.

Furthermore, PSU has formed a strong sambo team that has been trained since 2003 by Professor, World Class Master of Sports V.G. Volkov, the 1997 World Champion. The team is led by winners of World Youth Championships G. Lebedev (WCMS), A. Grechishnikov (WCMS), V. Balykov (WCMS), R. Burdaev (WCMS), A. Gaybaev (MS) and other gifted athletes.

The academic picked swimming team of the Special Physical Education Department has repeatedly won the Russian Summer Universiade in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

It was only natural that the persistent and determined sport development efforts of PSU resulted in great success of the PSU team in the finals of the IV (2014) Russian Summer Universiade. The competitions in 15 sport disciplines included in the Games program were held in Kazan, Penza, Yekaterinburg, Yoshkar-Ola and Smolensk. The PSU athletes were particularly successful in the track and field events (23 medals including 12 gold), swimming (14 medals, including 4 gold), sambo (7 medals, including 5 gold), boxing (1 silver medal) and dancing sport (1 silver medal). On the whole, the PSU students won 46 medals including 21 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze ones. On the team scoreboard, the PSU team was ranked far ahead of the nearest rivals like the Far Eastern Federal University team (13-18-15); the ones of Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism (12-9-11); and Lesgaft National State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Health (11-8-12).

The PSU cross-country skiing team was the first in the team total of the 2015 Russian Student Cross-country Skiing Championship under leadership of WCMS A. Chervotkin; and was a silver medallist in the 2016 (IV) Russian Winter Universiade under leadership of Assocuate Professor A.N. Lutkov. The PSU track-and-field team for the third successive time (2012, 2014 and 2016) won the 2016 (V) Russian Summer Universiade with the triumphant 668 scoring points far ahead of the other leading national universities.

Conclusion. The study made it possible to analyse the academic sports establishment and development process at Penza State University. It was due to the determined efforts of the academic trainers, athletes and PSU management and their interest in the academic physical education and sports that PSU is now ranked among the leaders in the Russian academic sports. The historical analysis offered by the study still needs to be updated by a more detailed overview of the academic sport progress made by the Physical Education Department of Penza Polytechnic Institute that is being currently integrated into the Physical Culture Institute of PSU.

References

1. Volkov V.G., Lyapin R.I., Khmelkov A N. Gimnastika. Stanovlenie i pervonachalnoe razvitie na territorii Penzenskoy gubernii. Uchebno-metod. posobie dlya uchiteley fizicheskoy kultury, studentov fakulteta fizicheskoy kultury [Gymnastics. Formation and initial development in the territory of the Penza region. Teaching aid for PE teachers, Physical Education Faculty students]. Belinsky PSPU publ., Penza, 2006.
2. Volkov V.G. Fakultet fizicheskoy kultury. Ocherki istorii k 50-letiyu FFK PGPU im. V.G. Belinskogo [Physical Education Faculty. Essays on the history dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Belinsky PSPU]. Penza: Tugushev publ., 2006, 107 p.

Corresponding author: fizkult@teoriya.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyse the extensive practical experience accumulated by the sport institutions of Penza State University. The study gives an overview of the academic sports development progress at Penza State University. It was due to the determined efforts of the academic trainers, athletes and PSU management and their interest in the academic physical education and sports that PSU is now ranked among the leaders in the Russian academic sports. The historical analysis offered by the study still needs to be updated by a more detailed overview of the academic sport progress made by the Physical Education Department of Penza Polytechnic Institute that is being currently integrated into the Physical Culture Institute of PSU.