Sports Federation
Sports Federation
an international or national nongovernmental organization of physical culture, physical education, or sports. The first public sports associations in the USSR were organized in 1923 and 1924, for tennis, shooting, chess, and other sports. All-Union associations in most sports popular in the USSR were established between the 1930’s and 1950’s; in 1959 they were reorganized as sports federations.
All-Union sports federations are organized by the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the USSR and by the Central Committee of the All-Union Voluntary Society to Aid the Army, Air Force, and Navy (DOSAAF USSR). The two organizations assist the all-Union sports federations in developing physical culture
| Table 1. Sports federations under the auspices of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the USSR (1975 figures) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Founded | Membership |
| ’Minimum figure †Approximate figure | ||
| Acrobatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1939 | 149,000 |
| Alpine skiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1937 | 27,000 |
| Archery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1959 | 10,500 |
| Badminton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1962 | 123,000 |
| Bandy and field hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | — | 300,000 |
| Basketball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1937 | 3,500,000 |
| Biathlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1957 | 26,000 |
| Boxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1923 | 257,000 |
| Canoeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1953 | 57,000 |
| Checkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1924 | 2,600,000 |
| Chess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1924 | 2,800,000 |
| Cycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1936 | 470,000 |
| Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1964 | 7,000* |
| Equestrian sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1932 | 22,000 |
| Fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1925 | 46,000 |
| Figure skating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1937 | 40,000† |
| Fire fighting, sport of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1964 | 1,000,000 |
| Free exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1948 | 77,000 |
| Gorodki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1936 | 353,000 |
| Gymnastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1932 | 647,000 |
| Handball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1956 | 787,700 |
| Ice hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1947 | 610,000 |
| Judo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1972 | 100,000 |
| Modern pentathlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1952 | 3,600 |
| Mountaineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1936 | 25,000* |
| Rowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1936 | 18,000 |
| Rugby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1968 | 5,100 |
| Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1924 | 2,900,000 |
| Skiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1926 | 4,000,000 |
| Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1924 | 3,700,000 |
| Speed skating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1933 | 309,000 |
| Swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1936 | 682,000 |
| Tabletennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1950 | 2,300,000 |
| Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1923 | 36,000 |
| Tobogganing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1968 | 1,700 |
| Track and field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1928 | 6,000,000* |
| Trampolining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1971 | 3,000* |
| Trapshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1934 | 27,600 |
| Volleyball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1932 | 5,200,000 |
| Waterpolo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1948 | 11,000 |
| Waterskiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1963 | 6,000t |
| Weight lifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1923 | 273,500 |
| Wrestling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1923 | 708,000 |
| Yachting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1936 | 20,000 |
and sports on a large scale and improving the skills of athletes. All-Union sports federations include members of corresponding republic sports federations, sports societies, ministries, sports departments, and trade union and Komsomol organizations, as well as workers in physical culture and sports, athletes, and sportswriters. In 1975 there were 64 active all-Union sports federations in the USSR (see Table 1).
The Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the USSR also manages the Federation of Lecture Popularization of Physical Culture and Sports (founded 1962), the Federation of Visual Aids in Physical Culture and Sports (1961), the Federation of Sports Films (1956), the Federation of Sports Medicine (1946), and the Federation of Sportswriters (1955).
DOSAAF USSR manages several sports federations. It includes the Bureau of Federations of Aviation Sports, which has federations for airplane modeling, helicopter sports, skydiving, gliding, and airplane sports. Founded as associations in 1948, these federations were reorganized in 1959 and united in the Bureau in 1966. The Bureau has approximately 300,000 members. DOSAAF USSR also includes federations of automotive sports (founded 1960, 517,000 members), model automobile sport (1964, approximately 62,000), motorboating (1959, approximately 60,000), naval combined events (1962, approximately 83,000), military-applied combined events (1970, approximately 1,400,000), motorcycle sports (1962, 428,000), underwater sports (1959, approximately 50,000), radiosport (1959, more than 283,000), breeding of working dogs (1962, 80,000), and model ship sport (1964, more than 83,000).
All-Union sports federations direct the work of republic federations and the associations of sports societies and departments. In 1975 the USSR had 54 sports federations that were members of corresponding international sports associations.
G. M. ROGUL’SKII