In the besieged gyms, the fight of the tenants in the municipality, support the choir wars

Enter order, but not for everyone

The largest hill for athletes in the country seemed to be leading her down the street.

The capital’s basketball school (SKM), which is attended by 3.5 thousand people. graduates, rent gyms in 35 Vilnius general education schools and fifty other kindergartens.

Next school year, she fears she will be forced to retire on about a quarter of her workforce.

This is likely to happen if the Vilnius City Council adopts a new description of the procedure for renting stadiums, gyms and other premises run by educational institutions next week.

The project includes the use of a centralized electronic room rental system and the separation of business hours from non-formal education hours.

When demand exceeds supply, tenants would be classified according to a complex formula that includes geographic, mass, and social criteria.

However, budget sports schools would not have to worry about this: their students would travel in a row.

According to the draft procedure description, the parks and salons will continue to be provided to municipal institutions free of charge, through a loan.

Not only that, there will be no need to participate in the competition if there are more people who want to train at one or another base. The description states that budget schools will be the first to be able to reserve the desired items in order of priority.

Institutions maintained by citizens in the chosen gym or stadium are also guaranteed at least 14 hours per week, while for the rest, 10 hours.

Although, according to data from the Association for Informal Education of Children and Young People, the ratio between the children who attend the budget and the private sports schools in Vilnius is the opposite: the institutions administered by the municipality have three times fewer students.

Imitation of budget supporters in the municipal support choir

Scared that next fall their offspring, along with their coach, would be kicked out of their usual place of exercise, the parents of SKM students wrote to Vilnius Council members to stop the new order.

Within weeks, the electronic petition in discriminatory terms received nearly 1,000 signatures. This is the largest number since 2012, when said request platform appeared on the Vilnius municipality portal.

However, supporters from the opposite camp did not take advantage either.

The description of the leasing procedure was considered by the Vilnius Council on May 27. Before and after the meeting, requests to approve the project presented by Deputy Director for Administration Adam Bužinskas began to flow.

In less than an hour, at least six letters praising the proposed order fell into council members’ mailboxes.

Interestingly, some of the support organizations do not rent sports facilities on their own and do not participate in non-formal education activities.

The Vilnius Volleyball Center, the Vilnius Handball Center, the Handball Coaches Association and the Feniksas Sports Club are united by the fact that their leaders work as coaches at the Tauras budget sports school in the capital.

Delphi the specialists interviewed denied having been agitated by representatives of the school or the municipal administration interested in adopting the procedure.

“I learned about this from my own sources, the sports school did not inform me. If that project improves my working conditions as a coach, I will do my best to fight for dignity. As it stands now, it is abnormal,” said Asta Jansonienė , director of the Vilnius Volleyball Center.

“We talked to the coaches before the meeting, which is a sensitive topic. We prioritize budget institutions, because most manual coaches work there and many children play sports,” said Karolis Kaladinskas, Secretary General of the Association of Handball Coaches, who is also a strategist for the Lithuanian women’s team.

At that time, for some politicians, a large amount of writing outlines a crooked smile.

“I have a lot of experience, so sometimes I am very critical of the letters that appear just before the meeting. I do not know who organized what here, but obviously there was concerted action. It is not usually the case that I receive fifteen letters on the same subject In an hour.

We can only guess which budgets united and united in this way. Perhaps someone from the municipality retaliated. But for the sake of justice, it must be said that both sides did it, “said Žilvinas Šilgalis, a former member of the Vilnius Council.

“It just came to our attention then. Who is the director? I will not name a last name, although I am guessing. The fact that those letters were not sent publicly but to the personal email addresses of the board members. I think everyone has the right to defend their interests, it is a little strange when done in this way, “added Vincas Jurgutis.

“Entrepreneur” vs. “Soviet Heritage”

The initiators of the project ensure that the approval of the new leasing procedure will make the sports facilities of general education schools more accessible.

At the last council meeting, the word “businessman” was repeatedly spoken, addressed to one of SKM’s founders, Andrius Čerškas.

Speaking to DelphiA. Bužinskas also published hints about a rapidly expanding basketball school.

“If someone from a private business wants to force us to discriminate against someone, that is definitely not the case. Children can attend municipal schools, and if their parents think that the quality of services in the private sector is better, they can pay a little more and go there.

The main thing that really ruins plans for private schools is that we have a new order nunuliname The whole system. Gone are the days when school principals managed to get around and agree in one way or another, the smartest. Believe me, there are hundreds of letters each September from smaller sports schools that don’t get gyms. We are now giving everyone a level playing field according to the same criteria.

Furthermore, there were schools that did not rent out their infrastructure because, in domestic terms, they were lazy and did not want an additional headache. That will no longer happen, “promised one of the heads of the municipal administration.

However, not all board members understand why the “same criteria” apply only to private agencies, at which point budget schools rise above them.

Doubts about such a division into equal and more equal are also heard in the ruling coalition.

“It is good that the rental of the hallways is made public, but I do not like it and it is not fully understood why some children have priority and others do not. And not according to qualitative criteria, so ordered, but according to their absence.

All children should receive the best possible service. And it will be better when all institutions operate under the same conditions, “said V. Jurgutis, who belongs to the faction of Mayor Remigijus Šimašius of the Freedom Party.

“This is the first time the issue has been brought up in council without further delay. Just because more order is needed, but that doesn’t mean that children can be divided between their own and strangers.

Perhaps it is logical that municipal schools have some priority, but as a result, others should not be left without a place. Therefore, it is clear that a compromise must be sought, “said Ž., Representative of the opposition (liberal) faction of the Lithuanian Freedom Union, Artūras Zuokas. Šilgalis.

In the depths of the conflict – “Tomorrow” and a new complex

The dispute between “budgetrs” and “businessmen” may also involve Vilnius “Rytas”, whose chairman of the board is A. Bužinskas.

According to unofficial information, the situation is not satisfied. SKM is considering the possibility of terminating the cooperation agreement signed in 2018 with the Vice-Champions Club of Lithuania.

The conflict was exacerbated late last year by the construction of a three-gym complex in Pašilaičiai, Vilnius municipality.

The municipality immediately announced that the new base would be used by the Vilnius Basketball School (VKM) budget together with students from the nearby continental Progymnasium.

Its director, Vytenis Tupčiauskas, is associated with another colleague from the R. Šimašius faction on the Vilnius Council, a former basketball player and ERM student, Linas Kvedaravičius.

When the latter held the position of Deputy Minister and supervised the field of sports during the last term, V. Tupčiauskas coordinated his work at ERM with the position of manager of the subsidiary team “Lietuvos ryto-2”. He remains the director of the Vilnius Perlo team that competes in the National Basketball League (NKL).

For current “Rytas”, building a new complex can be interesting, because in the arena of their home, dubbed “Jeep,” the club is just a tenant. The room was seized once for debts, and in 2017 it was bought by the company Saulės kopos, which is related to the Norvelita team shareholder.

A closer union with the ERM could benefit Rytas due to the unbreakable position of this school in the municipality.

This year, 951 thousand LTL of the city’s treasury have been allocated to the ERM. euros

For comparison, the only municipal support for SKM is 5,000. euros, which are provided for the project “Development of physical activity in the city of Vilnius”.

The ERM, which participated in the same municipal tender, had to pay another 13 thousand. to commemorate the 50th anniversary.

“It is not clear what the interests of the politicians are, but the issue has not been peaceful for a long time. We tell the municipality that the money must be distributed fairly, taking into account the achievements, the number of children.

And now the ERM automatically receives a million euros, free rooms and another 13 thousand, to celebrate a birthday. I think this is wrong. It would be the same if the municipality opened its own pizzeria or taxi company, since it was already in Vilnius. I think it is time to abandon this Soviet legacy, “A. Čerškus was angry.

It is interesting that the representatives of the municipality used similar rhetoric, when this year it was decided to liquidate the 60-year-old budget of the Vilnius soccer school, which lacked efficiency and transparency.

It is true that the situation in basketball and soccer in the capital is radically different. While there are already more than two dozen private soccer academies in the city, VKM and SKM largely share the market for the training of young basketball players.

A. Bužinskas admits that in the event of mixed reactions in society, some details of the proposed stadium can be reconsidered and the procedure for renting rooms, for example, the number of hours reserved for private and budget sports schools can be adjusted.

However, it does not seem sensible for the Deputy Director of Municipal Administration to fully compare the terms of the lease.

“If the municipality builds a school building, it does not announce a tender to find an operator. The same is true with outpatient clinics. According to the law, we have the non-formal education function assigned to the municipality and we must ensure it,” the Conservative covered the Local Autonomy Law.

On June 17, he expects a decisive round in the fight for territory in the metropolis, where the development of sports infrastructure has been irretrievably delayed with the rate of population growth for many years.

And there is no compromise here yet.

“It will be necessary to update the municipal servers, because there will be even more letters,” joked A. Bužinskas.

Winds blow from another direction in Klaipeda

What is unacceptable to Vilnius is of interest to Klaipeda.

Starting next year, the port city municipality intends to start closing the financial taps to budget for sports schools and distribute funds based on baskets, regardless of the type of institution in which gifted children play sports.

Such practices will be tested first in soccer.

“We were not satisfied with the fact that not all children receive the same municipal support, that educational institutions are divided into budget and private. We wanted a system in which competitive conditions allowed as many children as possible to participate in sport.

Until now, municipal schools had a guaranteed budget, guaranteed wages, and now they will have to compete for them. In a couple of years, we should see if our proposed basket principle works or not. ” Delphi Deputy Mayor Arvydas Cesiulis explained.

Admittedly, reformers are also treading the shoreline: Although it was originally planned that the municipality would withdraw entirely from training young footballers, a new public institution is now being considered in place of the Klaipeda Football School (KFM) budget.

Not only have the city funds been put up for football: the old school base is being rebuilt and the value of the project implemented with EU, state and municipal funds exceeds 11 million. euros

However, the scenario of a public institution run by a municipality raises doubts both for the Competition Council, which has to present its conclusions, and for the public.

“If the municipality remains in another form in education, it will not be the fairest model of sports development. The most that self-government could keep for itself is the maintenance of the bases. And all sports must be marketed in a basket.

Competition would allow stronger communities to emerge naturally, on the other hand, allowing smaller players to gain a place in the sun. In my opinion, the budgetary institutions are more opposed to the reform, because after its implementation they will no longer be able to live in peace, they will have to work as private clubs, looking for sponsors, venues, all kinds of non-traditional solutions, “said the Deputy of the Sports Council of the City of Klaipėda Klaipėda ”representative Vaclovas Gedvilas.

A working group established by the municipality prepared a plan for the reorganization of the network of six low-budget sports schools, according to which the now dispersed functions and sports should be concentrated in the respective centers. Initially, four of those institutions were considered, but there may be more.

In turn, Kaunas currently has seven low-budget athlete hills, although in 2015 there were still 11 of them in the city.

“This year, it is planned to prepare a sports strategy for the city of Kaunas, which should answer questions about the network of low-budget sports schools, the number of sports in them and the like. The sports strategy should also answer the question about the application of the sports basket to private and budget sports schools, “said Mindaugas Šivickas, head of the municipal sports department.

The last reorganization of sports schools in Vilnius took place in 2014, and four out of ten institutions survived, including the Vilnius soccer school, which is already being liquidated.

Almost 2.5 thousand. 1.1 thousand young athletes train at the Vilnius city sports center. – Tauras School and ERM. This year, a total of 5.9 million of the budget was allocated to these institutions. euros

The municipality is also a partner in four other public institutions that develop tennis, soccer and handball.