Organisational development of sport in the Volhynian province during the Second Polish Republic

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the development of organisational sport structures in the Volhynian province in the years 1921-1939 regarding the establishment of district and sub-district associations within individual disciplines of physical activity. During the interwar period, the Volhynian province was inhabited by, among others, the Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish, German, Czech and Russian population. In this respect, the Volhynian province stood out on an all-Poland level. In the years 1921-1939, associations were set up for individual sports disciplines in the Volhynian province district and sub-district. During this period, district sports associations were established in, among others, Volhynia, for the following disciplines: boxing, ice hockey, track-and-fi eld, skiing, football. On the territory of the Volhynian province, sports structures began to appear on levels lower than districts and sub-districts, within areas of physical activity. The development of district sports associations in Volhynia was particularly noticeable in the 1930s. In the 1920s, clubs and associations, running sports sections, mainly made up district sports associations with their seats in Lublin and Lviv. The establishment of district and sub-district associations in the Volhynian province facilitated the development of sports competition, making it possible to select the best sportspeople, and also increased the number of sports events.