Associate Professor Olga Lopukhova talked to us about this new curriculum.

Tatarstan's youth sports schools are in urgent need of professional psychologists: there are 160 such establishments with 3,000 coaches and about 90,000 kids –and only four in-house psychologists.

Dr. Lopukhova explained, “Kazan is one of the top 30 sports-friendly cities in the world based on a survey which measured its sports capabilities and major events held. The city provides all opportunities for kids and adults alike to engage in sports year-round. Most of the kids attend schools not for sporting achievements per se but to develop their personal traits, such as achiever’s mentality, will, and working commitment”.

As for sports psychologist's job description, there are three main points, as our interviewee said: supporting children in their harmonious development, helping them avoid overloads and stress, and working with child-parent interactions. “Another important aspect is helping coaches who often don’t have teacher education. A coach must first be a pedagogue, understand the psychology of kids and kids’ collectives; not only teaching them specific sports but being also focused on understanding and cultivating a unique personality”, she added.

A child is not a psychologically mature athlete – something that coaches often want him/her to be. That’s why a youth sports psychologist must seek a correct pedagogical approach to kids, maintain a personal contact and try not to discourage them from training altogether.