Children's and youth sports need more funding - V. Aleshkevich

October 8, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Children's and youth sports need more funding, emphasized today at a meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, First Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism of Belarus Vladimir Aleshkevich, BelTA correspondent reports. "Organizational, personnel, and financial resources must be directed towards the development of children's and youth sports. Elite sports are not financially neglected," said the First Deputy Minister. In his opinion, more attention should be paid to supporting athletes who are in the reserve for participating in the Olympics. In the Vitebsk region, the work of Olympic reserve schools requires special control. According to Vladimir Aleshkevich, 142 graduates of Olympic reserve schools participated in the Beijing Games, of whom only 5 were graduates of schools in the Vitebsk region, and none of them brought medals to the national team's tally. The First Deputy Minister expressed the position of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism on the need for decentralization in athlete training. In particular, Olympic centers need to create their branches in the regions, the sports medicine center in Minsk should develop a network of dispensaries in regional centers and cities where there is a base for the development of certain sports. Such a practice is global and is currently actively implemented in the Russian Federation. In the Vitebsk region, there are 34 children's and youth sports schools, 27 specialized children's and youth sports schools, 2 Olympic reserve schools, 1 school of higher sportsmanship, and 1 Olympic reserve center for equestrian sports. Almost 23,000 students are enrolled in sports schools. More than 600 athletes from the region are included in the national teams. 17 athletes in 5 sports from the region are contenders for participation in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Another 29 athletes (10 sports) are candidates for participation in the Summer Olympic Games in London. -0-