Page 78 - Olympism in Socialism

Peter Haendler is the chief sports instructor
at the Ernst Thaelmann School of Belzig. He is
assisted by three others who also teach other
subjects besides sports. In the summer months it
is mainly the fine stadium at the edge of the town
and the town’s swimming pool which are used for
sports lessons. For winter there is a new
gymnasium; for three schools—this requires a
good coordination of curricula in order to
“accommodate” the 1,600 children and
youngsters of Belzig.
Peter Haendler had some new ideas for sports
which have borne fruit. He made use of the fact,
for instance, that a lot of children came to school
on bicycles, and organised a “Small Peace Cycle
Race”. This is a contest held in many districts in
the GDR and channelises the enthusiasm of
children and youngsters to prepare for the biggest
amateur cycle race of the world—the Cycle Race
for Peace between the capitals of Czechoslovakia,
Poland and the GDR.
In Belzig this contest has a long tradition. But
this has not been the only initiative.
The interest of the sports teacher focuses,
above all, on regular extra-curricular sports.
“According to my own experience sports lessons
alone are not sufficient. Therefore, there should
be no separation between compulsory and
optional sports outside the school hours,” he
said. For this purpose he gives to the pupils living
outside Belzig some “homework”, which is easily
comprehensible, promotes capabilities, and is
mostly of a playful nature.
Sports fans of the 7th to 10th forms have set
up a committee for extra-curricular sports; they
thus help their teacher to organise games and
competitions. Each of them has some
sponsorship for a lower Form. It is the aim of the

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