The German government's Physical Activity Ssummit, in cooperation with the DOSB, is intended to provide an impetus to actively promote and sustainably shape sport in Germany. Particularly in the Corona pandemic, exercise has suffered enormously among many Germans and especially among children. Detailed work is to begin next year to reduce this massive social problem. In a contribution to the radio program "Sport am Sonntag" on Deutschlandfunk, hosted by Maximilian Rieger, which was broadcast on December 11, 2022, Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz, Head of the Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in Sports and President of the German Society of Sport Science (dvs), gave his views in advance on possible political measures, problem areas and why the empirical values from the Corona pandemic can help sport.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faser, Federal Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Karl Lauterbach and Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil are only three of the many prominent representatives who participated in the 90-minute Physical Activity Summit in Berlin on Tuesday, December 13, 2022. According to Prof. Schwirtz, the relatively short duration of the Summit was not enough to fix problems, but it was enough to initiate them: "From the point of view of sports science, we hope that all ministries will now pull together and that this will result in a sports development plan in cooperation with the DOSB," the dvs president explained in the radio interview.
Prof. Schwirtz sees this as one of the biggest points of criticism. By the differentiation in the different ministries - the federation cares for the top-class sport, the countries for the mass sport - a lot of strength for the sport is lost. Schwirtz hopes that the bundling of the ministries and the inclusion of sports science will lead to a "great success". After all, he said, sports have many problems, whether it's outdated sports facilities, the climate or the visibility of popular and health sports. "These problems need to be tackled, and tackled together," Schwirtz said.
Specifically, he mentioned sports facilities that need to be upgraded or maintained so that they can be used for sports - not just competitive sports, but also for popular and recreational sports. "During the refugee crisis, for example, sports halls have been closed and used as shelters. What is right for the current situation, of course, but endangers sports in the long term. As a current example, consider the climate crisis. Swimming pools are partly closed, which is to the detriment of swimming sports. If we work together on this with all components of sports science, the DOSB and the various ministries, then we should succeed in tackling the problem together and not always passing the buck," hopes the professor of Biomechanics in Sports.
In addition to the infrastructural problems, Schwirtz also sees too much focus on competitive sports and the underrepresentation of health and popular sports. Here, the political power of society should be used to strengthen sport, which is nevertheless one of the basic features of the development plan of the federal government and the DOSB - in the sense of inclusion and participation.
In the interview, the dvs president formulated the hope that the Physical Activity Summit would be "accepted as a mission" and also referred to the failures during the Corona pandemic: "We made mistakes there. We were very quick to cut sports and realized afterwards that our children were missing out on exercise. We currently have to make up for all that. We have a social responsibility to say that sports are important. We have to try to get people into the clubs, promote exercise, and get a lot of people excited about sports through both volunteer and professional activities."
As President of the German Association for Sports Science, Prof. Schwirtz also took part in the Physical Activity Summit and expressed his positive opinion of the impulse event afterwards: "The first politically important step to come to a development plan for sport in Germany with all ministries has been taken, now consequences must follow in direct consequence!" To this end, he has classified the results of the summit declaration.
To the radio report of "Sport am Sonntag" in Deutschlandfunk
To the homepage of the Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in Sports
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz
Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in Sports
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24580
e-mail: ansgar.schwirtz(at)tum.de
Text: Bastian Daneyko
Photos: Private/Deutschlandfunk