The “Athletics for Everyone!” programme has been running in Poland since September last year. Bolesławiec was selected—alongside 28 other Kids Athletics Centres—for the pilot phase of this initiative.
In 2015, there are already 50 centres of this kind operating throughout Poland, including five in Lower Silesia: Zgorzelec, Wałbrzych, Lubin, Wrocław and Bolesławiec.
On Friday, 19 June, an athletics event was held at the Stanisław Merdas Municipal Stadium, named after the founder of MKS Bolesłavia. Exceptionally, it was attended by students from just one school—SP Oxpress Bolesławiec (the youngest children from Oxpress are leaving for a “green school” trip and could not take part in the larger event scheduled for next week).
“The idea behind Kids Athletics is athletics games and activities conducted using equipment adapted to the age category of children in Years 1–3 of primary school,” says Justyna Serafińska-Gruman, the chief coordinator of Kids Athletics Centres in Poland.
On Friday, the young athletes from Oxpress—around 90 children—competed in groups in events including hurdle running, cross-jumps, additive jumps and medicine-ball throwing.
The “Athletics for Everyone” programme is funded by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. The Polish Athletics Association operates the initiative, while its partner in the programme is the Municipality of Bolesławiec. The sponsors are Orlen, the “Orlen—Gift of the Heart” Foundation, 4F and Nestle, and the content partner is IAAF (the International Association of Athletics Federations).
The coordinator of the programme in Bolesławiec is Rafał Bartosz Gruman. He is assisted by three Kids Athletics coaches: Sylwia Kawałko, Wanda Wysocka and Rafał Kwieciński.