Education of champions and development of sports schools in Russia discussed at SPIEF

As part of the SPIEF, the session "Education of champions and development of sports schools in Russia" was held at the stand of the Russian Ministry of Sports. During the session, much attention was paid to the development of youth sports with the participation of famous athletes, the opening of regional sports schools, as well as the role of sports equipment in achieving high results for young athletes.

Mikhail Evraev, Governor of the Yaroslavl Region, Sergey Kryukov, Chairman of the Russian Student Sports Union, Deputy Head of the Talent and Success Educational Foundation for Sports Development, Alexey Mitryushin, Vice-President of the Russian Rugby Federation, famous tennis player, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in London, and a children's coach participated in the discussion at the stand of the Russian Ministry of Sports. Nadezhda Petrova and Alisa Lobanova, whose company acted as the official outfitter of the Nadezhda Petrova Lawn Tennis School, providing free-of-charge kits for young tennis players focused on high-performance sports and the school's coaching staff. Her company has been paying great attention to the development and support of youth sports for many years. As part of the implemented projects, cooperation with the official clothing brand of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation “Red Machine”, collaborations with figure skating stars and Olympic champions.

Alisa Lobanova, a member of the working groups "Industrial Design" and "Socially significant Design" of the Council at the National Center "Russia" for the Development and promotion of a new Russian style, founder of the Russian clothing brand "Neva" on the sidelines of SPIEF'26, spoke about the importance of creating a powerful uniform system for children's sports with a strong visual component, built by based on our history and traditions.

"Russia holds one of the leading positions in terms of the number of Olympic and world champions. Children who are just starting their way to the top, entering competitions, as well as sports stars, should feel a sense of pride, belonging to their team and country. The use of high—quality equipment in children's sports is not just a matter of appearance, but a serious psychological, social and reputational factor. Add discipline and strong motivation to this, and that's the key to a future champion's success," Alisa Lobanova emphasized.

History shows that sports uniforms have repeatedly become a factor in attracting the attention and pride of athletes and creating a special image at international competitions. Vyacheslav Zaitsev for the Olympics-80 and Valentin Yudashkin for the 1994 and 1996 Games created costumes that were admired all over the world. "The whole world looked at our athletes with delight. But after all, children who are already professionally involved in sports need it no less," Alisa Lobanova noted.

It should be noted that tennis, unlike many team sports, where there are budget departments and government equipment programs, remains primarily a "family" project. The cost of training, equipment, and quality uniforms is almost entirely borne by the parents. In such a system, the high cost of uniforms becomes not just an inconvenience, but a real barrier that cuts off talented children from families with limited budgets, especially in the regions.

Nadezhda Petrova, in turn, stressed that the main barrier for young athletes from the regions is the cost of training. "The path to professional lawn tennis is virtually closed for children whose parents cannot afford such a burden," said Nadezhda Petrova.

The theme of the visual identity of Russian athletes is not a local initiative, but a vector of state cultural policy. The issue of introducing uniform uniforms for all Russian national teams is being seriously discussed at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. Not so long ago, State Duma deputies also sent appeals to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sports with a proposal to introduce uniform sports uniforms in schools. In addition, two years ago, changes were made to the updated Concept for the development of youth Sports until 2030, explicitly providing for increased accessibility of sports equipment, equipment and equipment for children.