On Tuesday, May 25, a meeting of university students-participants of the XXIV Festival of Universities of Physical Culture with the Minister of Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov took place.

As a reminder, for the first time, a special project is being implemented within the framework of the festival for representatives of student self-government bodies of Russian sports universities and media centers. A rich program was organized for the children, which included meetings with the heads of state structures, visits to the most popular sports facilities in Kazan, master classes and round tables. Before the meeting with the minister, the participants of the special project, for example, visited the Uram Extreme Sports Park.

Vladimir Alexandrovich told the children about the period of formation and rapid development of the sports industry in the republic from the moment of Kazan's victory in the competition for the right to host the World Universiade until today, when Tatarstan is rightfully recognized as one of the most sports regions of Russia.

- Without bravado, today not only Kazan, but also other cities of the republic are quite progressive from the point of view of the dispute. Over the past 10 years, a huge number of events of the highest level have been held. This gave an impetus to the development of infrastructure. This is not found in any other Russian city. Kazan has everything to host the Summer Olympic Games. Only the bike track is missing.

In addition to the sports infrastructure, according to Leonov, the sports industry of Tatarstan can also be proud of its personnel potential:

- Tatarstan is a forge of personnel for the federal center and other regions, it has a very strong school of life and management decisions. The ecosystem in which we live allows us to achieve high results not only in sports. Tatarstan is one of the most advanced and developed economic regions.

The head of the sports department also told his guests about what is being done in Tatarstan for the development of mass sports:

- Today, sports and fitness are fashionable. But in order for people to play sports, they need to be given opportunities. This is the infrastructure. In an effort to make sports popular, we went deep into the republic, provided all municipalities with not only swimming pools. Today we have 52 indoor ice facilities, and since 2013 we have built 1,200 universal sports grounds.  Today, there are 19 student sports clubs in Tatarstan. I must say that when we were preparing for the Universiade, most of the objects were "tied" to educational institutions.

Vladimir Leonov also highly appreciated the idea of organizing a special program for students who are actively involved in the life of the university within the framework of the festival:

- I am glad that such a program exists! Sport, there is sport. But I think we all need to communicate more. The point is that in addition to the sports component, the festival should also have an educational one. We need networking. We have to learn from each other. Live communication is only good for everyone, it contributes to the creation of your professional student community. You are all people of the future, and you must stick to each other.

The participant of the special project of the festival, a student of the Volgograd State Academy of Physical Culture Diana Tarelkina, at the end of the meeting shared her impressions of communication with the minister:

- It was very interesting.  Everything we've heard will definitely come in handy in the future. This broadens your horizons, immerses you in the professional sphere. I personally was interested to learn how to achieve these goals on the example of the personal experience of the Minister of Sports and on the example of how it is done in Tatarstan.  As for how these days in Kazan are generally going for us – I really like everything. At the university, I am engaged in photographing events as part of the work of our student association. So for me, the special project is very important. Especially, the part of it that is devoted to the media. I hope it will continue and the next festivals will have even more interesting meetings and educational events: master classes, short training courses…