Today, the Volga region Academy of sports hosted the VIII all-Russian scientific and practical conference "Actual problems of theory and practice of physical culture, sport and tourism", which is traditionally celebrated by the University in the spring. The event was dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the great Patriotic war. Under the current regime of self-isolation, participants of the scientific forum shared their research results with colleagues remotely – during a video conference on one of the digital communication resources. The broadcast was available to everyone on the Volga Academy's youtube channel. As a result, the plenary session brought together more than 300 people from all over the country.
- More than 1200 participants attended the sessions of the conference sections, - the organizer of the conference, Vice-rector for scientific work and international activities Firuza Zotova gave her calculations. - Up to 100 listeners and speakers were recruited for each of the sections. This is the maximum number of participants on this platform. In the off-line format, such a number has never been collected! This is a great success! During the conference, I received messages from colleagues from other universities of physical culture with congratulations. We were called "pioneers" in the field of online conferences. I would also like to note the high level of work presented at the conference. Minor technical issues were associated with the fact that participants read reports from home, but minor communication problems did not affect the overall impression. We are happy and inspired to continue working.
On behalf of the Minister of sports of the Republic of Tatarstan, the conference participants were greeted by the head of the Department of information and analytical support and international activities, Marcel Miftakhov. The Minister in his address emphasized the role of the Academy in the sports life of the Republic:
- Today we can say with confidence that the University is not only a remarkable legacy of the World student games, but also the engine of development of student and mass sports in the Republic.
The head of the sports Department highly appreciated the efforts of the University staff, who managed to organize and hold a scientific forum in difficult conditions:
- I think that today's event will serve as a good material for the preparation of scientific papers and research.
The rector of the Academy Yusup Yakubov addressed the conference participants personally and also noted that the situation with the coronavirus pandemic and the forced self-isolation of employees and students did not prevent the conference and the continuation of scientific and educational activities:
- The Internet expands our capabilities. I am glad that we have not broken tradition and are holding this scientific forum for the eighth time, despite current restrictions. Without a scientific component, it is impossible to train highly qualified specialists, so all 16 departments of the University are represented at the conference. I would like to note the activity of our students and participants from other universities in 20 Russian cities and 5 foreign countries. I am sure that in the future we will expand our work in formats that erase any borders.
The approaching significant date of the 75th anniversary of the great victory is reflected in the conference materials. The honorary duty to open the scientific part of the conference was given to the master's student of the Academy Tatyana Prokopchuk, who made a report on the athletes-heroes of the great Patriotic war. The story of the fate of brave people who have passed through difficult trials, but have remained loyal to the sport, set the tone for the entire event.
Thoroughness, depth and quality characterize all the reports presented at the conference by "academicians". Among the winners of the Grand Prix of the conference, Denmark Usmanova is the winner of this year's Olympic session, Sofia Miroshnichenko, Konstantin Kopylov, Andrey Brovkin, Ekaterina Ivanova, Ilya Zemlenukhin and Grigory Tarasevich.
Champion of the 2019 summer Universiade in Naples, swimmer Grigory Tarasevich successfully debuted at the conference as a researcher. The athlete used in his research the experience of studying at an American University, which allowed him to conduct a comparative analysis of the life values of American and Russian swimmers.
After the plenary session, the conference participants were divided into sections. The day of science ended with the summing up of results and the announcement of the winners – the jury selected three speakers in each section.