PhD, Associate Professor P.A. Baev
Baikal State University, Irkutsk

Keywords: sports, patriotism, youth, ideology.

Introduction. Sports is one of the areas whose successful implementation at the state level forms a patriotically oriented environment [1]. The spectacular nature of sports attracts attention, and therefore the importance of patriotic attitudes among athletes serves as an indicator of the civic identity and solidarity of the entire society [2, 3].

Objective of the study. To identify the mechanisms of patriotism development in university sports sections.

Methodology and organization of the study. The study involved 600 young people aged 18 to 25 years, of which 54% were girls and 46% were boys. All of them are engaged in sports sections at various universities in Irkutsk.

Results of the study and discussion. Respondents note both formal (62%) and informal (38%) patriotic events organized in their university sports sections. Formal events include intra-university or inter-university competitions dedicated to state holidays – "Constitution Day" (December 12), "National Unity Day" (November 4), "Russia Day" (June 12), etc. Informal events include "Important Conversations" in the context of the country's interests, the sporting achievements of Russia and the USSR, and the tasks facing contemporary professional and amateur athletes.

Heads and coaches of sports sections show insufficient initiative in organizing patriotic education at the university (75%), explaining this by the fact that the pro-rector for educational work and those responsible for educational work on the ground handle the patriotic orientation (37%), or that they have no time for patriotic rhetoric because their tasks are completely different – ensuring athletes perform correctly in their respective sports (33%), considering patriotic training an unimportant indicator of the development of university sports sections (30%).

Communication with friends who have clear patriotic attitudes helps only 20% of respondents. Parents contribute to forming one's own patriotic views in only 25% of cases. For the rest, the media and the Internet (55%) influence the patriotic ideas of participants in university sports sections. Only the charisma, talent, and personal patriotic attitudes of the section head or individual coaches can counteract this. Only a personal example can serve as a guide for the patriotic development of students attending university sports sections.

If we do not change the attitudes of those who work with students at the university in patriotic and sports training (both at professional and amateur levels), we will devalue and neutralize the significance of any state program aimed at the patriotic training of youth. This issue must be addressed at the highest level, and university leadership should pay close attention to the heads, coaches, and athletes attending sports sections at educational institutions.

Conclusions. Heads of university sports sections are not fully interested in developing patriotic sentiments among those who come to their sections. They mostly approach patriotic training formally, documenting it only in the format of organizing competitions dedicated to significant state dates, but this is insufficient for the full-fledged development of a patriotic athlete. Therefore, we believe that the development of patriotism should begin with the retraining of the heads of university sports sections themselves, and this retraining should be made regular and mandatory for subsequent accreditation in this position.

Literature

1. Ardashev R.G., Korelin M.N. Patriotizm sredi studentov-sportsmenov [Patriotism among student athletes]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. 2025. No. 10. P. 20.
2. Baev P.A. Sport i patriotizm molodezhi [Sports and patriotism of youth]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. 2025. No. 2. P. 30.
3. Polyushkevich O.A. Patriotizm i sport v prosotsialnoy aktivnosti molodezhi [Patriotism and sport in prosocial activity of youth]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. 2025. No. 10. P. 41.