- January 22, 2025
Only 41% of Polish households spend any financial resources on sports and recreation, according to a survey conducted by the Central Statistical Office (GUS). This is much less than in Scandinavia, the Benelux countries or even the Czech Republic, although still more than a few years ago. Senator Andrzej Person emphasizes that the activity of Poles should be supported primarily by local governments.
- A citizen's sport should be paid for by his district or housing estate. They should generate these funds somewhere. This is the case all over the world. A fantastic model is America, which has the best constructed system of education through sport at school and university. Then the local government gets involved in it, because the school itself wouldn't be able to handle it," stresses Andrzej Person, senator of the Civic Platform and a sports journalist for many years in an interview with the Information Agency Newseria.
Andrzej Person observes that universal sport is not only entertainment. For the state budget it means very big savings. Relatively small grants for physical activity for all Poles, from children to pensioners, significantly reduce the cost of medical care. Therefore, according to the senator, the promotion of sport cannot be thought of only in the category of direct financial benefits, which is often done by local governments, treating sports halls as a source of income, for example.
Incentives from local governments are necessary, because in Poland still very few people practice sport. Data published by the Central Statistical Office (GUS) indicate that only 41.1% of Polish households spend any money on sports and recreation, and only half of them decide to buy or rent equipment (most often it is a bicycle or team football).
Slightly more than half of Poles described their physical fitness as good or very good in the survey, and about 46% participated in sports or sport and recreation activities. However, only 20% did it regularly.
- The last dozen or so years have physically activated our nation, but we are still far from the Czechs, not to mention Scandinavia or the Netherlands, where the number of people spending anything on sport oscillates around 75%. In some, it reaches 90%, and in our country until recently it was only 10%. It was dramatic - notes Andrzej Person. - If we dream of reaching the average age in Scandinavia, for example, we have to change it dramatically.
In his opinion, the burden of encouraging Poles to take up sport should rest primarily with local governments. This is the case, for example, in Denmark, where pensioners benefit from subsidies that help them stay fit for longer. Many of them decide to come to Poland to play golf in Międzyzdroje with financial support from the government.
- You have long understood there, just like in Sweden, that it is better to give a fishing rod than a fish, i.e. it is better when a citizen takes care of tennis or cycling than to treat him for a serious diabetic, oncological or other ailment," explains the Personnel.
It also proposes other solutions transferred from Scandinavia, such as taking physical education classes more seriously at school, including the obligation to repeat the class if they are not passed. stresses that councillors should not fight for the voices of the population by developing only the road infrastructure, but also the sports infrastructure. Built football pitches, the so-called eagles, and sports halls must be open for a long time and easily accessible. Where there is still a lack of sports infrastructure, councillors should build it as soon as possible, which will lower the costs of access and contribute to an increase in the activity of Poles.
