TRAINING OF SPORTS PERSONNEL IN SOUTHERN UZBEKISTAN IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY: AN ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS

Abstract

This article comprehensively analyzes the systemic impact of Soviet state policy on the formation and evolutionary development of the sports personnel training system in Southern Uzbekistan (primarily on the example of the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions) during the second half of the twentieth century. The study scientifically substantiates the strategic role of the all-Union “Ready for Labour and Defence” (GTO) program, which was aimed at enhancing the physical preparedness, defense capability, and social health of the population within a centralized administrative framework. It also examines the expansion of specialized sports boarding schools in the region and highlights the effectiveness of the faculties of physical education established at the pedagogical institutes of Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya in training highly qualified coaches and specialists.

Based on a comparative analysis of archival documents and historical sources, the article explores the integration of Uzbek national sports—particularly wrestling and the traditional game of ulak-kupkari—into Soviet physical education models, the popularization of women’s sports within specific regional contexts, and the ethnic and social factors involved in building a sustainable кадровый base. In conclusion, the study assesses the negative impact of the economic and systemic crises of the perestroika period on the sector and argues that the material-technical and scientific-methodological foundations established during the Soviet era served as a cornerstone for the development of the national sports system in the years of independence.