Dr.Sc.Soc., Professor U.A. Vinokurova^1,2
PhD Y.I. Zhegusov¹
PhD A.E. Mestnikova¹
Postgraduate G.G. Alekseeva^{1, 3}
Postgraduate V.N. Alekseev^{1, 4
1}Churapcha State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, Churapcha
²Arctic State Institute of Culture and Arts, Yakutsk
³North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk
⁴Smolensk State Academy of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, Smolensk

Keywords: International Sports Games, socio-cultural progress indices, healthy lifestyles, sport infrastructure, Yakut Republic image and attraction, public opinions.

Background. Today a top priority is being given to national sports as a socio-cultural institute for their multiple and great values and benefits as they help solve many social problems, facilitate social unification and development, shape up public opinions and raise support, contribute to the positive images of the host regions, and help socialize the local young generation. Large-scale top-ranking sport events in this context may also be viewed as efficient catalysts of the social development and progress in the areas they take place in. Practical experience of the International “Children of Asia” Sports Games has demonstrated the high benefits of the Games for every economic and social sector in the host region.

Objective of the study was to identify and explore benefits of the regional socio-cultural project International “Children of Asia” Sports Games.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was timed to the period following the 2016 International “Children of Asia” Sports Games in August and designed as a sociological study based on a questionnaire survey of the Yakut (Sakha) Republic population. Subject to the survey were 405 local residents aged 18+ years sampled based on a representative-quotation and age-specific bases. The survey data were supported by the official government documentation analysis and website content analysis.

Study results and discussion. The International “Children of Asia” Sports Games were launched by the Presidential Decree #1170 “On the First International “Children of Asia” Sports Games to be hosted in 1996” signed by the-then Yakut (Sakha) Republic President M.E. Nikolaev in the effort to further improve and advance the children’s sports in the region [3]. Practical experience of the International “Children of Asia” Sports Games has demonstrated their high synergic effects and benefits for the social and economic process in the region as verified by the relevant areal and temporal metrics. We have identified and explored the following five benefits of the as socio-cultural project International “Children of Asia” Sports Games.

1. Healthy lifestyle promotion in Yakutia. The ideas of Olympism and value of health brought up by the top-level sports and mass physical culture movements have helped improve the demographic situation and social self-identification of the Yakut Republic residents. The mortality rate is reported to fall by 23% for the period since 1995, the birth rate has marked growth of 43% and the life expectancy has increased by 12% (from 62 to 70 years) for the same period. The Republican government has reported 642 public healthy-lifestyle promotion organisations and more than 1200 health and sport clubs operating, with more than thirty percent of the Republican population doing sports on a systemic basis [4]; and this progress makes the motto “Sports for Everybody” more and more realistic. The 22 sport events in 12 days of the 2016 International “Children of Asia” Sports Games were watched by the crowds overfilling the 12,800-seat sport arena in the Yakutsk city formally populated by two hundred thousand. The Games were served by about two thousand volunteers. The popularity of and enthusiasm for the mass sport and cultural event in the local communities is quite natural for the Games well fit in with the local traditions of mass ethnic festivals and sport competitions much loved by the people of the Yakut Republic. Most popular of these ethnic events is the annual Yysyakh Festival that is considered the major event for more than 100 thousand local people and this popularity has even made three records in the Guinness Book in the category of mass ethnic rites and ceremonies. The Yakut Republic presently hosts more than 200 ethnic sport events per year. The International “Children of Asia” Sports Games have in fact largely evolved into the ethnic sports of the people of Sakha and, hence, have undoubtedly contributed to their national pride and self-identification of indigenous people.

The sociological survey data obtained under the study show that most of the respondents (64.6%) closely watched the International “Children of Asia” Sports Games, including 17.2% present at the events as fans of some teams or individual athletes; and 39.6% virtual spectators who watched the Games on TV or listened to the radio reports and/or read the Game progress reports online; and 14.3% exchanged the Games-related information and commentaries in their WhatsApp groups. The high interest of the respondents in the Games may be attributed to the fact that half of them (49.9%) reported having relatives, close friends or acquaintances competing or volunteering in the “Children of Asia” ISG or otherwise supporting the games as the cultural program participants, event management personnel etc. In fact, every second respondent reported feeling closely and personally involved in the “Children of Asia” ISG.

To survey the respondents’ general attitudes to the “Children of Asia” ISG we put the question “What was the influence of the 1996-2016 International “Children of Asia” Sports Games, in your opinion, on the progress of Yakutsk city and the Republic in general?”, and the responses were the following: 52.9% rated the influence as “very positive”; 39.8% “more positive than not”; and only 7.3% as “negative”.

2. Ethnic and local cultural ideas and symbols promotion via the cultural programs under the International “Children of Asia” Sports Games. The Competitors’ Village during the Games was used, among other things, as a ground to familiarize the international community of junior competitors with the ethnic culture of the Yakut people and the Asian continent on the whole via the relevant cultural program. The dwellers and visitors to the Village could play the Yakut ethnic khomus musical instrument, dance osukhai, master the basics of the ethnic sport encouragement traditions of makhtal, kytaat etc. The Philippines national team in the Sixth “Children of Asia” ISG, for instance, was enthusiastic in learning the visitors to dance maglalatik, itik-itik and supli dances. It has become traditional for the Games to hold at the same time the “Meet the UNESCO masterpieces in the Olonkho Land” International Festival featuring immaterial cultural values and heritage of Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Japan, China, India and many European nations.

The “Children of Asia” ISG have also been renowned for their opening and closure ceremonies generously illustrated by theatrical performances and concerts, with the cultural program being driven by the Asian stylistics, doctrines and spirit. The performances are based on the characters and images of the ethnic cultures of the people of Yakutia, Russia and many other world nations so as to convey the ideas of peace and kindness, show the values and cultures of the Northern nations that have long lived in the harsh Nordic environments, and call for genuine unity of people the world over [5, p. 108]. As demonstrated by the questionnaire survey, the Republican population shows high interest in the “Children of Asia” ISG and their ceremonies and cultural events. Most of the respondents watched the Games opening and closure ceremonies online and in replays (64% and 56%, respectively). More than a half of the sample (66.5%) of the Yakutsk city residents appreciated the spirit of joy and holiday created by the “Children of Asia” ISG and their own experience of involvement in this important event.

In the context of the Games, the local tourism industry has offered a variety of tourist routes, attractions and services for the visitors to get acquainted with the nature and culture of the Yakut Republic. Arab children, for instance, were particularly impressed by the “cryolite-zone” experience visiting the Permafrost Empire exhibit with its ice sculptures and insights into the ice crystals and snowflakes [6, p. 9].

3. Cultivation of the “Children of Asia” ISG in the socio-cultural universe of the Yakut Republic and other Asian nations. Only 10 national teams with about 300 junior athletes competing in 9 sport disciplines participated in the First “Children of Asia” ISG, as compared to the Sixth “Children of Asia” ISG joined by as many as 45 national teams of 4,000 athletes in total competing in 22 sport disciplines. Starting from the 2000 “Children of Asia” ISG, the Games program featured a variety of ethnic sports of the Yakut (Sakha) Republic including Yakut jumps; Khapsagay wrestling style; mas-wrestling, traditional stick pulling game; and Nordic combined events. On the whole, as many as 7,000 junior athletes from 37 Asian nations and 27 regions of the Russian Federation have competed in the Games for their short history: see Table 1.

Table 1. National teams that have competed in the “Children of Asia” ISG for the period of 1996-2016

The 2016 “Children of Asia” ISG were symbolised by the images of young deer, foal and young mammoth with reference to the Yakut Republic as the Nordic zone of permafrost and ancient Nordic cultures that domesticated a deer and worshipped a horse as a generalised epitome of beauty and power for many Asian nomads. 54 projects participated in the contest of talismans for the Games and were considered by the jury, with 4017 internet users voting for one or another project; and it was the project by Rostislav Pavlov from Yakutsk that won the contest [5, p. 9]. The Republican industry has persistently contributed to the creative and cultural domain of the sporting process by the souvenir production, with the industry giving the top priority to the natural brand-name materials of the Yakut Republic, including the mammoth ivory, chromium-diopside, and charms bearing the Yakut ethnic symbols.

4. The “Children of Asia” ISG as a vehicle to promote the Olympic spirit and success stories of junior athletes. The 2012 (Fifth) “Children of Asia” ISG were organized under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee and the valuable contribution and participation of the latter demonstrates the high quality, effectiveness and growing popularity of the Games the world over.

Competing for the Yakut national teams in the first Games, for example, was Georgy Balakshin, Honorary Master of Sport in boxing, six-times Russian Champion, three-times European Champion, and bronze medallist of the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Many Olympic athletes from among freestyle wrestlers also competed in the “Children of Asia” ISG in different years including Asian and World Champion and bronze medallist Leonid Spiridonov; Russian Champion Alexander Kontoyev; and six-time World Champion in Russian draughts Gavril Kolesov [2, p. 56]. 2004 “Children of Asia” ISG Judo Champion Arsen Galstyan won the title of Olympic Champion in the 2012 Olympics in London and acknowledged in his interview the “Children of Asia” ISG that much helped his progress and confidence and paved his way to the Olympics. Many other leading athletes including World Champion and Olympic Games prize-winner in judo Khashbaatar Tsaganbaatar and Olympic Games prise-winner in boxing Tugtsogt Nyambar also started their sport careers competing in the “Children of Asia” ISG [5, p. 9] events. The competitive experience of the “Children of Asia” ISG has many times provided an impetus for the individual and team athletic progress and motivated junior athletes for further accomplishments in their sports.

5. Promotion of the Yakut Republic image in the Asian part of the world. The 20-year history of the “Children of Asia” ISG gives the grounds to state that the Games have evolved into a continental-scale event. The Yakut Republic with its population of less than one million hosts children of many Asian nations populated by a few billions in total once in four years. The number of the national teams has been on the rise over the Games history (see Table 1), and their geographical scope has in fact expanded to the whole Asian continent that is now involved in the sport movement, and this progress is indicative of the growing popularity of the “Children of Asia” ISG on the global scale with the Games being increasingly viewed as an excellent starting ground by the junior Asian athletes that tend to more and more consider them as Children’s Olympic Games.

The “Children of Asia” ISG are increasingly viewed as symbolizing the sporting cultures and friendship of the Asian nations. “The Children of Asia ISG have always encouraged active communication of different civilisations”, - mentioned Roidoula Antwnopoulou, Ancient Olympia delegation leader [6, p. 3]. Track records and news of the Games were covered on a daily basis by Match-TV, top Russian sport news broadcasting channel and www.nvk-online.ru website. Furthermore, the “Children of Asia” ISG have been awarded by a grand-prize of the IV International Festival OPEN-2015 of the areal marketing and branding project in Minsk; and were acknowledged the best culturally and socially beneficial project of Russia at the IX All-Russia Forum “Health of the Nation is the Basis of Russia's Prosperity”.

At the closing ceremony of the last “Children of Asia” ISG the Yakut (Sakha) Republic government came up with the idea of the next “Children of Asia” ISG hosting winter sports, and the idea was supported by 71.8% respondents under the present questionnaire survey.

Conclusion. The International “Children of Asia” Sports Games, a unique large-scale socially and culturally beneficial international project hosted by the Yakut (Sakha) Republic, have yielded the following key benefits: it encourages the healthy lifestyles in the Republic; facilitates the sport infrastructure development projects associated with the relevant social and cultural benefits; promotes the ethnic, areal and cultural ideas and symbols of the Yakut (Sakha) Republic people; helps socialize junior athletes; and advances the attraction and image of the Yakut (Sakha) Republic in the Asian part of the world. The public opinion polling under the study demonstrates the Games being widely supported and appreciated by the Republican population for their expressed benefits for the social, cultural and economic sectors of the Yakut (Sakha) Republic and its capital city. 

References

1. Arsen Galstyan: Igry «Deti Azii» otkryili mne dorogu na Olimp [Arsen Galstyan: "Children of Asia" Games have paved me the way to Olympics]. Moscow: Sovetskiy sport publ., 2016, p. 17.
2. Kochnev V.P. Narodnye igry i natsionalnye vidy sporta Respubliki Sakha (Yakutiya) na mezhdunarodnykh sportivnykh igrakh «Deti Azii» [Folk games and national sports of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) at International "Children of Asia" Sports Games]. Mater. mezhdunar. nauch. konf. "Mezhdunarodnye sportivnye igry «Deti Azii» – faktor prodvizheniya idey Olimpizma i podgotovki sportivnogo rezerva" [Proc. Intern. scie. conf. "International "Children of Asia" Sports Games - factor of promotion of the ideas of Olympism and sports reserve training"], 2016, Yakutsk, 2016, pp. 56.
3. Nikolaev M.E. Igry Deti Azii: zdorovoe nachalo dlya molodezhi XXI veka. Aktivny, sportivny i zdorovy obraz zhizni – ideal molodezhi XXI veka ["Children of Asia" Games: healthy start for young people of the XXI century. Active, sporting and healthy lifestyle - the ideal of Youth of the XXI century]. Available at: http://nlib.sakha.ru:83/index.php/ru/component/content/article/4-2008-11... r
4. Chusovskaya V.A., Krasilnikova G.A., Mestnikova A.E. Khudozhestvenno-esteticheskie osnovy teatralizovannykh predstavleniy tseremoniy otkryitiya i zakryitiya mezhdunarodnykh sportivnykh igr «Deti Azii» [Artistic and aesthetic foundations of theatrical performances at opening and closing ceremonies of the International "Children of Asia" Sports Games]. Mater. mezhdunar. nauch. konf. "Mezhdunarodnye sportivnye igry «Deti Azii» – faktor prodvizheniya idey Olimpizma i podgotovki sportivnogo rezerva" [Proc. Intern. scie. conf. "International "Children of Asia" Sports Games - factor of promotion of the ideas of Olympism and sports reserve training"], 2016. Yakutsk, 2016, pp. 108.
5. Shestye Mezhdunarodnye sportivnye igry «Deti Azii» [6th International "Children of Asia" sports games]. Inf. Newsletter no. 1 dated 06.07.16. Yakutsk, 2016.
6. Shestye Mezhdunarodnye sportivnye igry «Deti Azii» [6th International "Children of Asia" sports games]. Inf. Newsletter no. 6 dated 11.07.16. Yakutsk, 2016.

Corresponding author: ssvjakutija@yandex.ru

Abstract                                                        

Today a high priority is being given to the International “Children of Asia” Sports Games promotion and implementation project as the economic development process driver in the region. The Games encourage healthy lifestyles in the Republic; give a boost to the sport infrastructure development projects with an emphasis on the socio-cultural services; promote the ethnic and geo-cultural ideas and symbols of the Yakut Republic the world over; and advance the image and attraction of the Yakut Republic in the Asian part of the world. The International “Children of Asia” Sports Games have evolved into a highly successful large-scale socially and culturally beneficial international project implemented by the joint efforts of the Republican communities. A public opinion poll showed mostly positive popular attitudes to the Games with the people particularly appreciating the benefits of the Games in the social and cultural domains and for the economic sector of the Yakut Republic on the whole and its capital city in particular.