School sports competitions in Serbia have a history over 35 years long.

 

The school competition system started out back in the 1969/70 school year, as the result of the iniciative of the Yugoslav Olimpic Comitee, the Yugoslav union of physical education organizations and the union of physical culture pedagogists of Yugoslavia, which have invited all schools and school organisations for physical education in all of the republics of the former Yugoslavia to organize a competition under the name "Little Olimpic games" in April 1968.

This initiative had the following goals:

•  encouraging the development of mass sports among the school youth, spreading of humane ideas in sport, which, inspired by the olimpic games, should bond and bring together the school youth;

•  creating the conditions which will allow the young to develop their creative potential in sport and afirm olimpic hopes in the most natural way.

The union of physical education pedagogists' societies, SOFK and Serbia's republic union of education started sport competitions for students of highschools and elementary schools in 1970. under the name Sport games for the school youth of Serbia, and competitions in handball and altheltics were held in the 1970/71 school year in four circuts (school, distirct, regional and republic)

In the next 1971/72. school year, republic finals were organized in 5 sports: athletics, handball, basketball, volleyball and football.

In June of 1975. 14 socio-political, sport and specialty organizations and other republick institions signed the Social agreement of finansing games. Based on that, the republic board was founded (in February of 1976.), which, in coordination with SOFK Srbia, adopted a new four yearprogram (1976-1980). This program increased the number of competative disciplines by seven more sports (skiing, swiming, gymnastcs, rhytmic gymnastcs, shooting, cycling and table tenis), which increased the number of competative sports to 12.

Starting from the 1976/77 school year competitions are held in a closed four year period. the name of the games was changed and from 1976. they are known as "The Olimpic sports games of the school youth of Serbia", which emphasised the basic olympic ideas more..

The games union has it's statute, it is registerd in the Secretariate of Internal affairs in Belgrade, and and is a part of the Sports union of Serbia. It's headquarters are in the Faculty of Physical Edcation in Belgrade (adress: Blagoja Parovica 156) and one proffesional clerk (a secretary). On 15.12.1997. the union changed it's name into The school spot and olympic education federation of Serbia.

The school competition system started out in Serbia with three seperate sub systems:

• central Serbia - "Sports games of the school youth of Serbia",
• Vojvodina - "Sports games of the school youth of Vojvodina"
• Kosovo - "Sports games of the school youth of Kosovo".

In 1992. the competitions were united into a single system, based on the recomendation of the minister of Sport and Education of Serbia, under the name

"OLIMPIC SPORTS GAMESIGRE OF SERBIA'S STUDENTS".

Acknowledgments and awards

 

 

The games union is one of the most active unions in the SOFK Serbia and it was awarded numrous important acknowledgments. As the most important, we single out:

-Award plaque from the republic board of physical education (1977)

-Diploma of acknowledgement from the Yugoslav Olympic committee (1980)

-Acknowledgement from the Yugoslav institute of physical culture and sport medicine (1981)

-The May award SOFK Srbia (1985)

-Acknowledgement and the golden plaque from the Serbian athletics federation

-Acknowledgement from the Serbian shoting federation

Competitions are organized for primary and secondary school students in 12 sport catagories:

1. swiming,
2. shooting,
3. table tennis,
4. gymnastics,
5. volley-ball,
6. basketball,
7. handball,
8. soccer,
9. rhythmic gymnastics,
10. skiing,
11. athletics,
12. spring RTS race.

The competition system foresees 5 degrees of competition: school (inter-class), county, inter-county, regional and republic competition.

The competitions are lead and organized by:

SCHOOL SPORTS AND OLYMPIC EDUCATION FEDERATION OF SERBIA

 

 

 

who is a full member of the Sport Federation Srbia. The administration of the competitions unfolds through the Federations organizations in the municipalities and counties. The number of students which partisipate in these competitions, in all levels, comes to a figure of over 350.000 students in one school year. Only in the republic competition there is between 4.000 and 5.000 participants. An Organization with this much activity in the realm of sports is greatly based upon the enormous enthusiasm of the profesors of pshysical education, who spend their spare time in schools with the children prepairing them fore the competitions. This work is not only done during the work week, but also during saturdays and sundays, in most cases without any compensation. We give to them our due respect, because without their involvment this system of school competitions would not survive. Besides the professors amateur sport workers help us greatly, who work in the municipal and county federations, namely the councils for school sports who by any possible way provide the resources needed for fulfillment of the minimal requirements for the organizing a competition. This, before anything, else goes for renting out sport halls for competitions, the cost of wages for the referees, making of the diplomas, cups, medals, as well as the travel costs for the competition.