Under this title, I would like to initiate a discussion in the pages of our newspaper. I ask everyone interested in sport in our city to share their views on what is commonly called the subject. Why, living in a city with 50,000 residents, do we not have genuine sport, but remain its province? Is there no sporting atmosphere here, no people or sponsors ready to use their money to give sport a capital “S”? Why do we not have a third- or second-division team in such popular sports as football, handball, basketball or volleyball? Could it be that over all these years Bolesławiec has had no sporting talent sufficient to establish a league team, or perhaps we have no coaches capable of training players to league standards? Or perhaps our city lacks the necessary facilities—that is, sports halls, pitches and courts—where a sport could be practised with the prospect of achieving success? Or do we not need sporting success? Perhaps sport is not needed by anyone because it involves continuous expenditure for the city? Below, by way of introduction, I will present the current situation in Bolesławiec sport. What do we have? We have eight sports clubs or associations. They need to be listed, because surely many readers do not know that there are as many as that. They are: Bolesławiecki Klub Sportowy—the oldest in the city, with five sections: football, basketball, volleyball, chess and contract bridge. The second is Międzyszkolny Klub Sportowy MKS-MOS Bolesławia, with girls’ basketball and athletics sections. Representatives of this club brought home gold, silver and bronze medals from the Polish championships. Bolesławia’s greatest achievement was the appearance of one of its representatives at the world championships.
The next club is Miejski Klub Tenisowy, which has a Polish junior champion among its members.
Next is TKKF Bolesławianka, where the weightlifting section leads the way. Then there is TKKF Nowe Śródmieście, dominated by badminton. Harcerski Klub Sportowy, promoting water sports, also attracts the interest of our community.
Next is Szkolny Związek Sportowy, which organises school competitions. Bolesławiecki Klub Taekwon-do should also be mentioned—the youngest club, already achieving success on the national stage.
All the associations and clubs have around 1,000 members, 80–90% of whom are children and young people from Bolesławiec. All sports organisations benefit from so-called subsidies from the city budget. This subsidy amounts to less than 1% of the entire budget. Calculated per person, it comes to approximately HO złoty per year. Is that enough? Given current prices, including transport to sporting competitions and refereeing fees, which consume the lion’s share of the subsidy? We are rapidly heading towards the end of sport in Bolesławiec. Looking at the matter from another perspective, however, it is impossible to overlook such an important issue as giving children and young people sporting activities, which provide an outlet for a young person’s great energy. Sport can become their way of life, giving it meaning.
And what about its educational, health and many other benefits?
If we do not allocate funds to sport, the alternative will be to spend much larger sums treating various diseases, drug addiction, alcoholism and so on.
Therefore, to counteract this, I believe that sport is needed; it should be given greater importance and more financial resources should be committed to it, and the results will follow naturally. I invite you to discuss how best to achieve this. With sporting regards