Approved.
Czech sport has taken a significant step towards systemic change. The Chamber of Deputies approved the creation of the National Sports Agency, which will take over the sports agenda from the Ministry of Education, including the distribution of subsidies. The agency will be headed in the future by Milan Hnilička, a former national hockey player, now a deputy for the ANO movement and the government's commissioner for sport. The proposed and approved change has been criticised in particular by Pirates, who fear opaque procedures in decision-making on financial flows. These will be decided by the sports agency's management with its advisory body. An important circumstance is therefore the composition of this body of the agency and the setting up of control mechanisms that will accompany the parceling of billions. A reasonable balance between funding children and youth sport, including recreational and leisure sport, and supporting national teams and the top (elite) version of sporting activities is likely to be one of the nuts to crack. Similarly, the criteria for the distribution of money, which traditionally include the size of the membership base, popularity of the sector, success rate, technical difficulty and accessibility, youth work, etc. will certainly see shifts. The 80-member team, led by Milan Hnilicka, is expected to distribute grants as early as 2020.
There are currently strong voices for a more systematic approach to youth work. Not only the declining international success of young Czech national teams in collective sports, but also the poor fitness and low physical literacy of the upcoming generation are objective signs of mistakes and errors committed by those who make decisions about sport. A view from the opposite end is provided by, for example, tennis coach Pavel Šnobel, who literally says (Metro daily): 'Why should a parent invest time and money in a sports-gifted child? Why ruin his health in a career that lasts only a few years." He adds: "The Czech national team? These are mercenaries playing sports for a pittance."
Finding the necessary balance between opposing poles of opinion, not letting taxpayers down and, most importantly, improving the sporting environment in all respects are the daunting tasks facing the new agency.