To commemorate the 30th anniversary of its establishment in 1991, the UP Faculty of Physical Culture will organise awards for successful student athletes, prepare profiles of outstanding graduates and summaries of their practical experience, and hold a photo exhibition, to name just a few of the activities planned for the coming months. The celebrations will culminate on 3–4 June 2022 with a large alumni reunion, which will include the first ever silver graduation ceremony organised by the faculty.
The focus of the anniversary commemorations is on the graduates and the opportunities that the field of physical culture offers, not only in terms of employment. “The concept of the celebration is a mature, 30-year-old lady calling her children back to her, as she wants to see them. This is why we focus all activities and events on our graduates, on establishing and deepening our connection, on presenting what the faculty has achieved over the years, what we are currently doing and what we can offer, for example in further education, as well as how we can be useful to each other. At the same time, we want to draw attention to the fact that our faculty produces prominent and successful experts who do meaningful work, often staying in the region and giving it some added value. They are not ‘just physical education teachers’, as the graduates of sports faculties are often described,” said Michal Šafář, dean of the UP Faculty of Physical Education.
The programme of the celebration of the faculty’s 30th anniversary includes events that have a long tradition at the faculty, such as awards for successful student athletes and the social evenings Recreparty and APA Carnival. The theme of the 30th anniversary will also unfold in events such as the annual conference Sport Psychology in Practice, which will take place in January. Its guests will include faculty graduates holding various interesting jobs in the field of sports. In addition to traditional events, the faculty will also present some of its successful alumni – coaches, managers, entrepreneurs, headmasters – through their biographical profiles, as well as at a planned talk.
The culmination of the celebrations will be the alumni reunion, planned for 3–4 June 2022. Among other things, the first ever silver graduation ceremony for graduates who completed their studies at the faculty 25 years ago will take place in the Archbishop’s Palace in Olomouc. Long-term meritorious employees of the faculty will also be awarded, and there will be a social and cultural programme as well as guided tours of the faculty’s departments. Details of all upcoming events will be continuously published on the faculty website and on social networks.
The Palacký University Olomouc Faculty of Physical Culture commenced its activities on 1 January 1991, with Bohuslav Hodaň as its first elected dean. The faculty consisted of six departments and a laboratory of human motor functions, and its first students had originally applied for Physical Education at the UP Faculty of Education. The first graduation ceremony took place on 24 June 1991, and three months later the first students who applied to study at the new faculty were matriculated. The nineties were marked by further refinement of study programmes and the introduction of the credit system, while the faculty successfully entered the international arena with its scientific activities and began to cooperate with foreign experts such as James Sallis, who received the first honorary doctorate of the UP Faculty of Physical Education in 2012.
At present, the faculty consists of eight departments: the Department of Adapted Physical Activities, the Department of Physiotherapy, the Department of Natural Sciences in Kinanthropology, the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, the Department of Social Sciences in Kinanthropology, the Department of Sport, the Institute of Active Lifestyle, and the BALUO Application Centre, which is a unique scientific and technical park in the Czech Republic which promotes healthy lifestyles. In addition to traditional physical education teaching, the curriculum includes programmes focussing on physical activity of people with special needs, physiotherapy, the “dual career” of top athletes, and many more.