MINSK, 22 September (BelTA) – Over 1.9 million Belarusians are engaged in sports activities on a regular basis, head of the physical education department at the Belarusian Sports and Tourism Ministry Piotr Voron said at a press conference hosted by BelTA on 22 September to discuss the implementation of the state policy on the popularization of a healthy lifestyle, maintaining and promoting health of the population.
According to Piotr Voron, the number of people participating regularly in sport has increased over the past six years. “More than 1.98 million people, or 20.8% of the country's population, do sport regularly. For instance, in 2010 this figure stood at 16.6%, or 1.6 million people,” Piotr Voron noted.
According to the head of the physical education department, there are 163 regional sport centers in the country. “Sport centers and clubs are playing the key role in organizing sport activities for the population. The quality of services offered at the sport centers are in the limelight and have recently seen considerable improvement. People are now more interested in going to a gym or a swimming pool. Sport centers are also responsible for hosting regional and urban legs of nationwide competitions among children and teenagers such as Leather Ball (football), Golden Puck (ice hockey), Ball Over Net (volleyball) and other tournaments. Work is also underway to develop sports classes, organize competitions at big enterprises,” he added.
