Moscow Offers Online Applications for Child Sports Testing

The mos.ru portal has made it simpler to arrange tests to help select sports for children.

The mos.ru portal has made it simpler to arrange tests to help select sports for children. Parents can now use the city portal to arrange a free test for their child, in which professionals will determine the child’s current level of sporting development and advise on a suitable type of sport, or else complete the test online. For this, parents now need only an account on mos.ru and a medical certificate confirming that the child is healthy and permitted to participate in physical education.     To perform a preliminary independent test, the mos.ru system suggests a number of exercises for the child to complete. Once the user inputs the results, the system provides a list of several sports divided into two groups: the first consists of sports that are ideal for the child; and the second includes sports that he or she could also try.   In addition to this, testing can be carried out in 11 testing centres that have existed since 2016. Appointments can be made in seven of them online via the mos.ru portal, and this service will be extended to the other four in the near future. The aim of the project is to help parents, trainers and future sportsmen identify their natural propensities for different types of sport.     The project methodology and standards have been developed by over 400 trainers from Moscow’s Department for Physical Culture and Sport (Moskomsport) and experts from the country’s leading sports institutes.   The testing procedure itself is divided into three stages. During the psychophysiological test, experts identify the child’s personality type and temperament, the strength of their nervous system, level of motivation, attention and speed of simple and complex reactions. Anthropometric study involves measuring the child’s physical development, dimensions, skin-fat thickness, body diameter and biological age. In the third stage the child’s power, coordination and speed abilities are measured, as well as physical capability, flexibility, speed-power abilities and explosive qualities.   Using the test results, the child’s level of development is first compared with the average for Moscow, and then, within a specific sport, with the performance of children attending Moskomsport’s sports schools. A child is identified has having a propensity for a specific sport if their results exceed the upper development level of the sports school students.   “Since the project was launched over 9,000 children have been tested. The project is aimed at helping children tap their potential and successfully realise their natural abilities. Testing helps to assess the child’s existing level of training. The data are then assessed against a standard scale taking account of sex and age in comparison with their peers. For example, the child’s level of physical development is determined, including which qualities are strongly developed and which are weaker. Upon receiving the test report, the child’s parents can see how well developed their child is at that moment in time. On the basis of the test results, specific sports are recommended – usually around five of them,” says Svetlana Bazhanova, First Deputy Head of Moskomsport.   Following the modernisation of the electronic service on the mos.ru portal, it has become much simpler to arrange a test for a child. Firstly, the number of fields in the application form has been reduced, and secondly, user prompts remind parents of the important requirements for testing. In addition to testing for children, Moscow is pursuing a multitude of initiatives to support and develop sport, enabling citizens to remain active and  healthy even in the urban environment Almost 40 of Muscovites do sport on a regular basis, while over 2.4 million Muscovites take part in mass sporting events (data from a 2018 report by the Sports Department).