Latvia

Name of program: Sport whole class & Judo at Schools Number of schools: Sport whole Class - 15 & judo at schools - 19 Number of children: Sport whole class - 557 & judo at schools - 500 Founding year: 2018 Founder(s): Latvia Judo Federation- Vsevolods Zelonijs & Agris Dravins

About the program

The President of Latvian Judo Federation, Mr. Vsevolods Zeļonijs already had an idea about judo classes in general education schools of Latvia. In 2017, in cooperation with member of Education and Development Committee of Latvian Judo Federation, Mr. Agris Draviņš, the work to grasp the project of Judo at Schools has begun. The project is implemented in the program "Sports Whole Class", which is a national program in Latvia.

The programs intention is that besides the obligatory two sport lessons at school, students will have 3 more sport lessons. That means, that children will have 5 sport lessons weekly. The project has been appreciated since 2014, thanks to Latvian Olympic Committee' s cooperation with Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia. At its’ birth, the project started with 6 involved classes and small number of students. Currently, around 404 classes and almost 9000 students from all over the country are involved…and the numbers are growing constantly.

The Latvian Judo Federation has signed a cooperation agreement with the Latvian Olympic Committee with the aim to add judo to the project "Sports whole class". Individuals in charge of this project explained and demonstrated to schools what will be going on within this project and what will be the benefits from this project to the students. In cooperation with Latvian Academy of Sports Pedagogy, the methodological material was worked out. It was done in accordance with the age and level of preparation of the target groups and was handed over to Latvian Olympic Committee. This is a publicly available document and judo is being taught at schools in accordance.

Dream 

In accordance to the data of World Health Organization, the fall is the most common cause for traumas among school age children. As the result, bruises, dislocations, fractures etc. traumas at home, school or during the spending of free time occur. Latvian Judo Federation is aiming to improve this statistics and to help to 775 Latvian schools to save health of children.

Support next to IJF  

• Latvian Olympic Committee

Highlights

• Establishing a development material
• Approval of the Government and Olympic Committee

Challenges 

• Attract clubs to the school program
• Provide all necessary facilities (tatami / kimono... etc.)
• Funding

Best Practices

• MORE ACTIVE LIFE FOR CHILDREN

Schools and the municipality are very pleased with the progress of this project in their schools. Children are more actively involved in sports, apart from the addiction and frequent use of electronic devices, as well as the beneficial effects on children's health and well-being. As mentioned above, in addition to the mandatory two sports hours per week, the program provides children with an additional three sports activities in schools, of which 1 is a judo lesson once a week.

• GROWTH OF CONFIDENCE

As a result of kids at school having daily sports lessons, children feel that they have become better, more confident and happier to participate in additional sports as well as socialize very well.

News

If you are interested to know more about Judo in Schools in Latvia, please contact the project manager: