The Free Charge of Sport Schools Commission of the National Olympic Committee of Turkey (TMOK - USOK) was set up in 1996.
There are approximately 20 million children below the age of 15 in Turkey and research shows that 60-70% of these are from the lower income groups. All public and private sports schools in this country charge a fee of some kind; this means that children from poor families who cannot pay even a minimal fee never get the chance to do sports.
This, then, is why the The Free Charge of Sport Schools Commission started the Free Charge of Sport Schools (ÜSO/FCS) Project - to provide this opportunity for underprivileged children.
Our aims are as follows:
To enable children and young people to take part in sports whatever their height, weight and other physical characteristics may be.
To help ensure that future generations grow into physically and mentally healthy adults.
To encourage children and young people to actively take part in sport, and to make this possible for every section of society.
To prevent children and young people from acquiring harmful habits.
To teach young people how to share while competing, and to inculcate in them the spirit of Olympism.
The FCS activities currently involve children between the ages of 7 and 15, and are concentrated in the outlying parts of İstanbul where there is the highest proportion of children and young people. After the permission of the Provincial Governorship of İstanbul had been obtained, activities began in the gymnasium at state schools, which are not in use at weekends, with the co-operation of the Provincial Directorate of Education and the Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports.
The first step was to have repairs made to the gymnasiums floors, ceilings, lighting and heating equipment, and changing rooms. Additional sports equipment (baskets for basketball, nets, balls, etc.) was supplied. The PE teachers at the schools concerned were used as trainers for the Free Summer Schools if they were trained in the appropriate sports; otherwise, students and graduates of university departments of Physical Education and Sport were employed for this purpose. Banners were hung in the streets and outside nearby schools to publicize the event.
When the Project first began, it took in only 10 schools in İstanbul. Following the August 1999 earthquake, however, this number grew to 17 with the addition of 7 schools in the eastern Marmara region (Adapazarı, İzmit, Gebze, Petkim, Darıca and Karamürsel).
In 2000, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation donated a large quantity of NIKE sports equipment to sports people and sports clubs, especially in the areas worst hit by the earthquakes.
With the opening of our sport school for children with an intellectual disability in Disabled Sport Hall in 2002 and the opening of the FCS in Anatolia in Mart 2007, the number of schools involved in the Project has now reached 37.
The FCS Project now serves 15 000 children, and our aim is to expand our activities so that they reach millions of children throughout the country.
The Project is now in its twelfth year, and the schools included in it are as follows
İstanbul
Ümraniye Atatürk Industrial and Technical Vocational High School
Kartal Şehit Öğretmen Hüseyin Ağırman Industrial Vocational High School
Bahçelievler Şeyh Zayed homeless children protection centre
Kağıthane Hasbahçe Primary School
Kuştepe Bilgi University
Bahçelievler Atatürk Girl's orphanage
Bahçelievler Disabled Sport Hall
Büyükçekmece Çakmaklı Primary School
Eastern Marmara Region
Kocaeli Kocaeli Atatürk Sports Hall
Kocaeli Petkim Sports Hall
Adapazarı Adapazarı Central Sports Hall (marquee)
Gebze Gebze Sports Hall
Karamürsel Karamürsel 100 Yıl Sports Hall
Darıca Darıca Sports Hall
İzmit Oruç Reis Anatolian High School
Mediterranean & Anatolian Region
Hatay / İskenderun Dörtyol Youth and Sport Regional Sports Hall
Hatay / Antakya AntakyaSports Hall
Muğla / Dalaman AtatürkSports Hall
Ordu Sports Hall
Giresun FacultySports Hall
Kars Merkez Sports Hall
Van 75.YılSports Hall
Erzurum Yenişehir Sports Hall
Erzincan Sports Hall
Bayburt MerkezSports Hall
Gümüşhane/Kelkit Aydın Doğan Vocational High School
Adıyaman CumhuriyetSports Hall
Adıyaman / Kahta AtatürkSports Hall
Malatya YeşiltepeSports Hall
Kahramanmaraş BatıparkSports Hall
Şanlıurfa HaleplibahçeSports Hall
Mardin Mardin High School
Diyarbakır YIBO Regional Boarding School
Diyarbakır Fatih High School
Niğde 75.YılSports Hall
Aksaray Gazipaşa Primary School
Kırşehir Kırşehir High School
The main outgoings of the Free Charge of Sport Schools Committee - FCS - Project are ;
Salaries paid to trainers, administrators and staff
Repair and maintenance of sports halls
Supply of sports equipment
Organizing tournaments (transport, food, sportswear, medals, certificates, fees paid to doctors, nurses and umpires)
We at the Free Charge of Sport Schools Commission of the National Olympic Committee of Turkey had dedicated ourselves to the cause of encouraging children to take up sport and thus to become better integrated in society, in a country where there is no shortage of either people or holidays.
We will be very grateful for any support.
For those wishing to contact us, here are our details:
Address : Olimpiyatevi
Ataköy 4. Kısım , 34158 İstanbul
