department of physical education

 Head: RNDr. Karel Opravil

Physical education at Masaryk University is organized on a university-wide basis by the Department of Physical Education. The department provides physical education programmes at the individual faculties through its faculty physical education departments. The Department of Physical Education is also the sole guarantor of activities of the University's Varsity Sports Club (VSK MU Brno).

The goal of the system of physical education at MU is to enable all students at the university to engage in sports during their studies, and thus to give the students opportunities to get active recreation, to regenerate their strength, to relax and, first and foremost, to acquire the right habits for lifestyles of people in the modern era.

Teaching methods of physical education are different at different faculties. Generally speaking, physical education in the first years of study is part of the study curricula, it includes a participation in a sports camp, and is completed with a credit. In higher study years, physical education is part of a supplementary study program, and is optional. In both types of study, students can decide what they want to choose from the opportunities offered by the Department, and when. The range of possibilities is broad enough to allow the majority of students to engage in their favourite sports. The following sport disciplines are included in the main programme: basketball, volleyball, football, tennis, table tennis, aerobics, ballet, judo, karate, swimming, canoeing, general fitness exercises, body building, horseback riding, and water aerobics.

Courses taught at training camps include downhill and cross-country skiing, and courses leading to ski instructor licences. Courses at summer camps include watercraft, windsurfing, bicycling, hiking, rafting, mountain biking, and introduction into mountain climbing.

The Universita Varsity Sports Club has 21 teams, which gives MU students an opportunity to go in for at both recreational and competitive levels. Twelve teams represent the University at the national league competitions, 13 teams in regional competitions. A number of the teachers at the Department act as leaders or coaches in the teams. The Universita Varsity Sports Club had a total of 2010 members in 2001.

An important part of the Department's teachers is to organize and sports activities of students of schools of higher education, and to develop the necessary methodology. Dr. Eva Slonková is the deputy chairperson of the Executive Board of the Czech Association of Varsity Sports (ČAUS). Dr. Karel Opravil is a member of the ČAUS Executive Board and the Chairman of Brno Varsity Sports. Dr. Pavel Korvas was appointed coach of the Czech Republic Varsity Skiing Team, and took part at the Winter World Universiad in Poland in that capacity. Dr. Eva Slonková attended the Summer World Universiad in China.

In cooperation with the VSK MU, the Department of Physical Education organized a number of important sporting events: International Varsity Championship of the Czech Republic as part of the UNI/FIS European Cup in alpine skiing, and varsity championships of the CR in tennis, golf and squash.

Teachers of the Department of Physical Education also took an active part in several scientific conferences. They also cooperated in publishing various methodological materials (Coach journal, Academic Sport, University News, etc.). Dr. Zdeněk Josefík and Dr. Pavel Korvas are members of the team for the grant project Developing Methodology for Furnishing Sports Facilities.

With the establishment of the Faculty of Sports Studies on 1 January 2002, the Department of Physical Education became one of the departments of that faculty, and under the name of Department of Sporting Activities, it will continue to provide instruction for the students of Masaryk University.