MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS Correspondent Dmitry Osipov/. The Churapcha State Institute of Physical Education and Sports is the only university in Russia that is located in a rural area. In the village of Churapcha, which is next to the lake of the same name, the continuous sports education begins from the kindergarten. The university teaches 12 sports, trains teachers, coaches and youth affairs specialists. Though the university is outside large urban areas, it is a leading center to train champions.
A long road to Churapcha
It takes some 7 hours to get from Yakutsk to Churapcha, including the Lena River crossing. The taxi driver explained to us the village stands on nine hills, and the university is on one of them - the Sports Hill. Having arrived at the university, we witnessed a graduation ceremony. The building was full of a joyful bustle and excited graduates. After the ceremony, they performed a song for the teachers - about Churapcha, the youth and the desire for sports.
"The fact the university is in a village demonstrates the country's development, its power and strength," Chancellor Innokenty Gotovtsev said. He has been managing the university for 22 years. The institution continues traditions of training Olympic champions, laid by an enthusiast and a freestyle wrestling coach, Dmitry Korkin. That rural teacher and coach has brought up famous wrestlers of the 1970s - Olympic champions Roman Dmitriev and Pavel Pinigin.
Korkin graduated from the Herzen Pedagogical Institute (in Leningrad, now - St. Petersburg). He was a sambo wrestling champion. The athlete came to his native Yakutia to organize freestyle wrestling sports sections for school students and for adults in the villages of Ozhulun and Churapcha. The coach demonstrated high results, and authorities agreed to open a sports boarding school at Churapcha's secondary school. The school has educated 448 wrestlers, where 175 received sports ranks in the USSR, and 12 won international competitions. In 1999, the institution became a university.
The village's school presently hosts the Korkin Museum of Sports. The exposition presents information about the athlete, about the history of freestyle wrestling in the Youth Sports School, first achievements of the school students. The museum exposes homemade simulators, and the central exposition tells about athletes participating in the Olympic Games, about the development of archery, athletics, checkers, skiing, and sports acrobatics sections, plus, of course, the school's and university's history.
Russia's only rural university
Since the university is in the village, there are certain peculiarities regarding recruitment, accommodation and socialization of students, but the institute copes with them successfully. The chancellor explained it is difficult to attract and keep specialists in rural areas, thus Churapcha prefers to have specialists who are the university's graduates.
Over recent 25 years, 19 students and specialists have defended their PhD theses. Some graduates are doctors. "In Yakutia's Ministry of Sports, about 30% of employees are our graduates. Our graduates also work in the region's other universities," he added.
Elena Shubina, PhD in Pedagogics, Associate Professor at the Siberian Federal University's Department of Physical Culture and Tourism Theory and Management, has come to observe Churapcha's session of diplomas' defending.
"Though the university is in the village, it is very strong," she said. "For example, in our university, there are fewer students and directions, although we are located in Krasnoyarsk."
The final qualifying papers are mainly on ethnic sports, she said. "It is great that ethnic sports are supported and developed. Many papers are on how to introduce ethnic sports in pre-schools, to primary school students. The Hapsagai (Yakut) traditional wrestling is among popular topics," she added.
The university trains rare specialists in designing simulators for ethnic sports. Two teachers are about to complete courses at the Belarusian State Technical University, and they plan to defend PhD theses next year.
Another direction is highly qualified athletes and specialists. "About 30% of our teachers and trainers are leading scientists and specialists. At various times, the institute has welcomed outstanding athletes, such as the Olympic champion Tatyana Samoylenko, track and field athlete and all-rounder, the European Cup winner and a Silver medalist of the Goodwill Games Alexander Apaichev, and others," the chancellor said.
The Institute is proud for its graduates who have participated in the Olympic Games, World and European Championships in student sports. For example, freestyle wrestler Vitaly Koryakin - Russia's Master of Sports, participant in the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, freestyle wrestler Nikolai Ayanitov (Noev) - participant in the 30th Olympic Games in London (2012), boxer Vasily Egorov - participant in the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (2016), Silver medalist of the World Championships (2015) and European Champions (2015, 2017). Sardana Trofimova, the institute's graduate, a Master of Sports of International Class in athletics, now competing for the Kyrgyz national team, has received a ticket to participate in the current Olympic Games in Paris.
Continuity is what matters
The Institute has a continuous training system for both athletes and specialists. The campus has a kindergarten. After it, many kids go to the sports boarding school, where they start training.
At the fifth year, school students choose the sport they want to practice. Secondary school graduates have a choice - either to continue a secondary or a higher education program. The children have the opportunity to keep classes with the coach they have since school.
Classes are held in a 450-seat teaching and laboratory building. The gym has a wrestling section and an athletics arena. Additionally, there are volleyball courts and a shooting range. Plus - a hostel, a canteen and a recreation center.
Athletes participate in events outside the university. All expenses are covered by the regional budget. Athletes with high results receive monthly allowances - of 18,000 rubles ($210). The chancellor's scholarship for success in sports and for international results is 50,000 rubles ($583) a month.
Track and field athlete Konstantin Dragunov has completed almost all training stages on the institute's campus. He was born in a small village of Khatyly in the Churapcha District. The boy, who demonstrated abilities in sports, was assigned to the boarding school. Further on, he received secondary education at the institute, and later on started a bachelor's degree course.
"I have a lot of training sessions in Kyrgyzstan and in Kislovodsk (Russia). I act as a pacemaker for Sardana Trofimova, a graduate of our institute. Since Soviet times, there has been a good school in Churapcha, not only in freestyle wrestling, but also in long-distance running. In winter, we run in the arena, in summer - at the stadium. Consistency is what's needed to achieve results. The secret of running is in classes without skipping them. First results appear only after several years of training," said Konstantin. He plans to continue studies - to study a Master's degree course to become a coach.
The sharply continental climate and extreme frosts benefit athletes. "After training for two or three years in Yakutia, you may compete in a marathon: climatic conditions, a sharp change of seasons give a positive result in the training process. There is no minus 50 degrees anywhere else in the world. Such conditions may be created only in a cryo-sauna. The climatic conditions create the effect of middle mountains, and we are in the black. For a positive result, 10-20 minutes of classes in the cold is enough for an athlete," said Vyacheslav Loginov, the university's vice chancellor for science.
From ethnic sports to Olympic competitions
Every year, under the Russian Ministry of Sports' program "Sport is the Norm of Life," the Institute trains ethnic sports coaches, referees and instructors from 66 regions. "Our institute is the only university that supervises ethnic sports in the country. Therefore, we plan to open a center and an international mas wrestling academy. This ethnic sport originates from Yakutia's traditional stick pulling game," the vice chancellor said.
The institute's specialists develop federal standards for ethnic sports, including a sample mas wrestling program.
"This is a necessary regulatory part to develop this sport, to introduce mas wrestling in workout classes, and also to promote it at the global level," the vice chancellor said. "The sample program offers competent and purposeful approaches to the training process, focusing on children's peculiarities. However, this requires targeted scientific research, the study of leading methods and model characteristics of leading mas wrestlers, including answers to the questions of when and how to train, which kids to select, how to avoid injury."
The sports require a unified language, he continued. "This applies to all ethnic sports. The point is to form a unified terminology. Specialists and athletes have been using randomly generated terms. Thus, some techniques have several jargon-type names. Such terms are of practical meaning only for those who know what they mean, and they are of no value for newcomers. Of course, the existing professional slang will remain, but having general concepts we will promote sports across the world," he said.
Based on results of own research, the institute is happy to offer practical recommendations, methods, and to publish textbooks. In 2021, the university was granted the status of a federal experimental site for training mas wrestling. Experts focus on all aspects of training athletes, as every sport requires different motor actions: for example, a wrestler, unlike a gymnast, does not need excessive flexibility.
The scientist believes that non-standard people can achieve high sports results. "They are people whose muscle composition is slightly different, their nervous system is well developed, and they can recover very quickly. We, here, in Yakutia, must organize the selection of talented children, not to follow standard selections for mass sports," he said.
The university hopes to have a new building. "The design work is coming to an end. The cost is 600 million rubles ($7 million). We plan a building for a biomedical laboratory, biomechanics laboratory, for pedagogy and psychology. We will have space for a scientific library, for a congress hall for 200 seats," the chancellor said. Further plans include a hostel for secondary vocational education for 150 students with a hotel complex where athletes, coaches and teachers will live. The university plans to build a universal wrestling hall by 2028, the 100th anniversary of coach Dmitry Korkin.