Associate Professor, PhD S.A. Sokolov
PhD, Lieutenant Colonel E.Yu. Arkhipov
Captain E.A. Pushkov
Military Institute of Physical Culture, St. Petersburg

Keywords: cadet sport school, physical fitness, military sport education.

Introduction. The present-day realities, the subject of military training system improvement with a view to ensuring the consistency of military education programs in schools and universities, as well as the expectable closer attention to the development of cadet education in the Russian Federation point out the relevance of searching and developing the new organizational and pedagogical conditions and mechanisms facilitating effective operation of complex military educational establishments that are being introduced in the country and include cadet sport schools and military higher education institutions.

On September 1, 2015, the Cadet Sport School for gifted children was established in St. Petersburg under Military Institute of Physical Culture in accordance with the National Educational Initiative “Our New School” and the Federal Target Program of Education Development approved by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Objective of the study was to provide a comparative analysis of sport skills indicators and physical fitness levels of students in the Cadet Sport School and Military Institute of Physical Culture.

Materials and methods. In October 2015, physical fitness testing was conducted in the Cadet Sport School in order to determine and analyze physical fitness of cadets from their own perspectives; the test consisted of physical exercises and qualifying standards used for measuring physical fitness of military students in Military Institute of Physical Culture on the basis of “Instructions on physical training in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (IPT-2009)”. Physical fitness testing followed the tutorial and consulting assistance in exercise performance; the willingness of cadets to participate in testing was taken into account too. As a result, 20 cadets (17 years of age) and 22 military students (18 years of age) were tested in physical exercises according to IPT-2009 in order to examine and evaluate physical fitness and motor skills levels of the students (agility, speed, strength, speed endurance, applied military skills).

Results and discussion. The Cadet Sport School is definitely unique, since today it is the only institution of its kind in the Russian Federation. Structurally, the School is the subdivision of Military Institute of Physical Culture and operates to educe, support and develop the individuals who have outstanding physical abilities and are inclined towards intellectual and creative activities in the field of physical culture and sports. The Cadet Sport School is a boarding school and implements the general education program of senior school term (10-11 grades) based on the integrated educational program comprising basic educational curricula of secondary general education and elective additional pre-profile training programs in the field of physical culture and sports. The School is fully maintained by the State: sports uniform, gear and equipment, educational and sport facilities in Military Institute of Physical Culture are state-paid. The core admission requirements include: basic general education (9 grades), senior sport degree (second-class athlete or higher), sport achievements [1]. 40 people were enrolled at the School during the first admission round (Table 1).

Table 1. Sport skill level of cadets

Table 2 illustrates physical fitness testing results of cadets and military students.

Table 2. Physical fitness of cadets and military students

It was important to determine the cadets’ attitude towards the opportunity to continue study after graduating from the Cadet Sport School and to enroll at a higher education institution, specifically at Military Institute of Physical Culture; this issue was considered in terms of work on organization of the new educational system “Cadet Sport School - Military Institute of Physical Culture” in general and functioning of physical training within this system in particular. The conducted poll showed that 40 cadets (100 percent) would like to continue university studies; 38 of them (95 percent) favoured Military Institute of Physical Culture.

The data obtained from physical fitness testing demonstrate the fact that, despite the 2-3 years age difference between cadets and military students, the physical fitness of cadets generally corresponds to that of the military students after the first year of study. The average results and marks of cadets and military students in the “600 gr grenade throwing” exercise were equal (4.2 points). However, cadets showed higher average results in the exercises “10х10 m shuttle run” (cadets – 4.8 points; military students – 4.3 points) and “Pull-ups” (cadets – 4.9 points; military students – 4.7 points). Average results of cadets in the control exercises “Standing long jump” (3.4 points) and “400 meter dash” (4.2 points) were lower than those of military students (4.7 points for each exercise), yet satisfactory.

It should be noted that competitive mood prevailed during physical fitness testing of cadets and allowed for better demonstration of physical qualities and skills. In case with the military students, the testing process was characterized by minimal competition: military students were primarily focused on fulfilling the requirements of qualifying standards.

Results of the poll on the cadets’ stance towards the after-school enrollment at a higher education institution, specifically Military Institute of Physical Culture, revealed that the majority of cadets were willing to obtain higher education at Military Institute of Physical Culture after graduating from the Cadet Sport School.

Conclusions. According to the study results, the following conclusions can be drawn:

• first, physical fitness of the first-year cadets meets the qualifying standards used for measuring physical fitness of the military students who have completed the first year educational program at Military Institute of Physical Culture;
• second, physical fitness of cadets, who have successfully passed the Unified State Exam at the Cadet Sport School and were admitted to the Military Institute of Physical Culture, is advanced and considerably differs from that of their peers graduated from an average general education school;
• third, Military Institute of Physical Culture now faces the task of developing and organizing the function of the two-level education system “Cadet Sport School - Military Institute of Physical Culture” that would provide consistent and successive content, techniques, forms and methods of military sport education and work out the issues of building and implementation of targeted education strategies and the further improvement of physical fitness of gifted children enrolled at the Cadet Sport School and continuing study at Military Institute of Physical Culture. 

References

1. http://www.vifk.info

Corresponding author: SokolovSAffk@yandex.ru