The Bundesjugendspiele () ("Federal Youth Games") are an annual sports event that takes place at German schools and German international schools. They are obligatory for all students. The participating students are expected to achieve the best possible performances in specific disciplines, like athletics or gymnastics. In athletics, usually a combination consisting of the disciplines ball-throwing (

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

in higher age groups), running, and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

is performed. The performances achieved are rated with points. If the participant achieves a specific minimum score, they are given a simple certificate. Above a certain higher score they receive an 'honorary certificate', which bear the (printed) signature of the Federal President. Since 1991, all other students, who have neither received a 'certificate of achievement' nor an 'honorary certificate', get a 'certificate of participation'.

History

The Bundesjugendspiele were inspired by the sports official and sports scientist

Carl Diem Carl Diem (24 June 1882, Würzburg – 17 December 1962, Cologne) was a German sports administrator, and as Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games, the chief organizer of the 1936 Olympic Summer Games. H ...

, who also initiated the

German Sports Badge The German Sports Badge (German: ''Deutsches Sportabzeichen'' (DSA)) is a decoration of the German Olympic Sports Federation DOSB. The German Sports Badge test is carried out primarily in Germany, and in other countries abroad. History The Germ ...

and the

Olympic torch relay The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was first performed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and has taken place prior to every Games since. Although in the pa ...

, and founded the

German Sport University Cologne German Sport University Cologne (German: Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln, DSHS, Spoho), is a sport university in Cologne, Germany. History The Sport University Cologne was founded in 1947. After the Sport University had changed its name to "G ...

. At the same time he engaged in propaganda actions during the time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and used sports for National Socialist actions. The precursor of the Bundesjugendspiele were the Reichsjugendwettkämpfe, which took place for the first time in 1920. The event was first announced by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, then by the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family, and Health of Students between 8 and 19 years. Since 2001 there are nine Bundesjugendspiele that are advertised as individual competitions in apparatus gymnastics, athletics and swimming. The

National Paralympic Committee Germany National Paralympic Committee Germany ( ger. Deutsche Behindertensportverband e.V. (DBS)) is responsible for Germany's participation in the Paralympic Games. The DBS represents rehabilitation sports, popular sports, and professional sports. Foo ...

and the Deutsche Behindertensportjugend have, in collaboration with the committee for the Bundesjugendspiele and the commission of sports in the KMK, developed a programme for the participation of students with disabilities.

Debate

In July 2015 a petition was started on

change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...

with the aim of abolishing the Bundesjugendspiele. Within a few days several thousand signatures were collected in favor of the abolition. Reports about this petition triggered a debate about the Bundesjugendspiele. In July 2015 another petition was started on change.org with the aim of maintaining the Bundesjugendspiele. This petition also gained several thousand supporters in a short time. The proponents of the Bundesjugendspiele argue that the basic movements involved in athletics belong to something that was earlier called the classical canon of education. Exercise is said to be crucial for the development of cognitive abilities and the aspect of performance comparison is an inherent side effect of sports. Furthermore, the fact that others are better in some areas is said to be an important experience. They argue that dealing with failure is also an important part of learning. Not least, especially within the scope of school education, there is a comparison of individual performance through grading in other subjects, too. Critics of the Bundesjugendspiele point out that through a confirmation of bad performance in written form physically weaker students are demotivated rather than motivated to do sports.''Hoffnung für unsportliche Kinder: Mutter startet Petition #bundesjugendspieleweg''
auf ''spiegel.de'', retrieved on June 26, 2015 The point of the sports is not the competitive character but the

physical fitness Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of Outline of sports, sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate ...

paired with shared joy. People criticize the obligatory participation, because in other branches like

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

or singing there are no obligatory competitions. With this obligation physically weaker students are put under compulsion and pressure. Moreover, there is no basis for the distinction between the genders just before puberty, because no fundamental differences in performance are present.''Mädchen und Jungen sind gleich stark''
auf ''tagesspiegel.de''. retrieved on June 26, 2015 Beyond that, individual physical requirements are not considered.

References

External links

Handbuch der Bundesjugendspiele

{{Authority control Sports competitions in Germany Multi-sport events National youth sports competitions