hello bog. i can smell your cold air coming our way...ugh!
across the pond, in communist era, they had primary, secondary, and then national training center. this was russia, east germany, poland, czech, bulgaria, rumania, and spattered in parts of what was called yugoslavia.
children received intense physical education during this era. for gymnastics this began in approx 1961. and our physical education here in the USA was rather rigorous also and included gymnastics. the communist manifesto wasn't just about polictics. it was that they rule the world in athletics also. during this era, japan was the leader in gymnastics for men and the soviets in women.
so, the sport coaches in these countries went around their countries looking for their talent from what we call K-6th grade or elementary school in the US.. everything was government funded and provided for. the talented ones were taken from the primary schools and moved to secondary, and on to national.
nothing was done WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE PARENTS, although the governments were rather persuasive. the communist system was a repressive caste system. this meant that if you wanted a 1 bedroom apartment with a wood burning stove with indoor plumbing and a couple of extra tickets for meat, bread, flour, vegetables, and coffee, etc; well then...you wanted your child chosen. most often, dependent upon the success of the athlete, the parents would also receive upwardly mobile jobs. like being moved from the farmfields to the factories. and with those moves came increased paygrades. and as long as the athlete produced and did not quit the families enjoyed a decent life. athletes & coaches were revered in these cultures for/in all sports. in fact, women were merely welcome mats in these societies. it was worse in china and you might be familar with the consequences of birthing females in this culture...but i'll stop as children read here.
athletes and coaches in all sports received more pay than doctors and nuclear physicists. only ballet and musicians were paid as much. this was to reward the arts.
all coaches in the sports schools lived, ate, and trained under one roof. ALL the children went to school. they were as well educated as anywhere else in the world. the school was also under the same roof. these were massive complex's and fully funded by the government. this is commonly referred to as the "russian system" of sport. and the one degree they could achieve in their system, and nowhere else in the world, was called a "master of sport". this acceptance and degree was very special and even more revered.
china's system was modeled after the russian system as they were communist also yet they hated each other as cultures. china didn't do as well in selection and education as their soviet counterparts. in fact, prior to 1992, most of the chinese athletes were illiterate and undereducated. the chinese ministry of sport sacrificed education over beating the tails off their soviet counterparts. and they failed miserably. it was an administrative change that was made after 1992 and a committment was made to also educate their athletes. today, they are also educated.
the only countries where overt abuse took place were in east germany and rumania. you might be aware that a sports administrator in east germany was put to death a couple of years ago for his hand in allowing the female swimmers to have performance enhancing drugs, including steroids, placed in all of their meals and drinks and snacks from the time they were young children. and several coaches and trainers received life sentences in prison. they are all still there.
in rumania, the female athletes became the concubines of the coucescu's regime. this included the gymnasts. and of course you all know what happened to him.
so, today things are different and better for everyone. governments are financially failing and it's beginning to impact athletic/olympic governing bodies throughout the world. canada has already been hurting. australia just had more funding cut and others had their funds "frozen". and china has begun to privatize. and they have a beautiful training center in bejing. one of the most complete i have ever seen. and round lake and dinamo of the soviet era were the end all to training centers. never saw dinamo. but was at round lake. national training centers still exist today just fewer of them due to expense. and the athletes in all sports live under one roof with coaches, trainers, doctors, physical therapists, etc; wouldn't you agree that this is the best way for athlete development to take place? and it's beginning right here in america with our semi-centralized training. i swear the ranch was modeled after the black forest...
and many of the finest coaches we have in america today are from those former systems. they are all pretty well educated. and they even "sit and lean against walls" when they coach. lol.
and of course, some of them are not so good. the not so good is a world wide problem. just ask defournet from france. a topic for another day. have a great night up north Bog!
