Abstract

The personnel matter in the physical culture movement from 1918 through 1930 has not yet practically become the object of special study, despite the fact that the success of this movement which was given an important role in education of “new man” and mobilization of labor resources in Soviet state depended to a large extent on solving the staffing problem. The article presents a comprehensive analysis of this problem in the above-mentioned period. The author examines patterns in the qualitative and quantitative changes in the cadre of instructors, as well as identifies the factors that influenced this process. An acute shortage of instructors (coaches) was a characteristic phenomenon in these years. Since physical education was to become one of the most important tools of education in the spirit of communist ideals and at the same time a method of restoring the health of the population, it was necessary to make the physical culture movement a mass movement, and therefore it required a large instructor staff. According to the materials reviewed, there were a number of problems on the way to achieve large-scale participation. The principal one was financial, so the number of educational institutions and courses grew extremely slowly, and the instructors were often not interested in high quality work. Another problem was the social composition of the instructor cadres, since physical education, according to Soviet ideologists, could not be apolitical and exist for the sake of sports achievements. The situation was aggravated by the inconsistency of the work of various departments and organizations. All these facts taken together led the Soviet leadership to the conviction that the problem could not be solved without strict regulation and control of personnel training, as well as large-scale financial support. The system of management of the physical culture movement was radically rebuilt, and the shortage of personnel was comprehensively solved due to the decisions of the Party and the Soviet government, Komsomol and trade unions in 1929 and 1930.