Today, on 27 October, on the threshold of the All-Russian Gymnastics Day, the Volga Region University of Sport and Tourism hosted the III All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference with international participation "The state, problems and ways of improving sports and health-improving training in gymnastics, dance sport and fitness".

Rector of the University Rafis Burganov, President of the Gymnastics Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Bariev and Head of the Department of Theory and Methodology of Gymnastics of Povolzhsky University Lyubov Botova addressed the participants of the conference with a welcoming speech.

"This conference is held at the university for the third consecutive year and is designed to share advanced scientific and practical experience in improving the system of training athletes, as well as optimising physical education and recreational activities with different age and social groups of the population," Burganov said.

The rector noted that more than 100 scientific papers were sent to the conference. 
"The conference is attended by 172 people from 12 regions of Russia, as well as - seven foreign countries - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Turkmenistan, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia," - specified the rector of the university.

In turn, Marat Bariev emphasised that the topic of the conference is more relevant now than ever before. 
"After the successful performance of Russian gymnasts at the Olympics in Tokyo, artistic gymnastics has become very popular in Russia. Many children want to practise this sport. We see this in Tatarstan as well. But now there are not enough gyms and specialists to meet this demand. This is a problem and we are trying to solve it together," said the Federation President.

Speaking about another topic of the conference - fitness, Marat Bariev emphasised that today this is also a very popular trend, not only among young people, but also among adults, including pensioners. 
"People's worldview has changed. People realise that they need to take care of their health themselves, to take care of it, than to be treated later. Everyone wants to be healthy, energetic, beautiful, to stay young. And, of course, sports, fitness, dancing and gymnastics contribute to all this," added the President of the Gymnastics Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Lubov Botova also addressed the guests and participants of the conference. She read out a greeting from Olga Kapranova, President of the Association of Rhythmic Gymnastics Sports Clubs, Honoured Master of Sports of Russia.

Within the framework of the conference the university teachers were awarded. Vyacheslav Turaev, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Gymnastics Theory and Methodology, Gulshat Shamgullina, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Gymnastics Theory and Methodology, Sergey Veldyaev, Associate Professor of the Department of Gymnastics Theory and Methodology, Valentina Kosulina, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Gymnastics Theory and Methodology, Irina Kucherova, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Gymnastics Theory and Methodology were awarded with the Gratitude of the Minister of Sport of Russia for their contribution to the development of physical culture.

After the plenary session the conference continued with round tables and sections with the participation of coaches of the national teams of Russia.

Photo: Pavel Zheleznyak