Sport

JINR Stadium "Nauka" is 70 years old!

It is not surprising that the Institute will celebrate this anniversary date of its official establishment only in a year and a half: the origins of the future international intergovernmental scientific research organization date back a whole decade earlier. At that time, not only the establishment of the material and scientific base was widely underway, but also the establishment of the social and cultural and sports infrastructure of the Hydrotechnical Laboratory, later being transformed into the Institute of Nuclear Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences. On 20 November, 1954, Director of the Institute Mikhail Meshcheryakov signed an order to open the new Sports Stadium "Trud". It acquired its current name "Nauka" in the mid-1970s of the last century.

Simultaneously with the construction of the proton accelerator, a scientific town was founded, where scientists from different regions of the Soviet Union came. The Institute's Directorate already then tried to create conditions for employees and their families to improve their health and to have a comfortable and interesting life. Many sports traditions were born during the years of JINR's establishment. People engaged in intellectual work do not necessarily have to become professional athletes, but physical education and sports are important components of every person's life. The Institute honors traditions - all JINR sports facilities are available to all the citizens of Dubna. Later, in 1954, the new stadium immediately became a centre of attraction for supporters of a healthy lifestyle from nearby villages located on the right bank of the future Dubna. Many physicists that came here to work were not only lyricists, they were fond of a variety of sports. On the basis of the stadium, one after another, sports sections were opened headed by proactive employees ready to share their experience. This tradition has been preserved to this day.

Vladimir Lomakin has been heading the sports facilities of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research for almost a quarter of a century and he has been Head of the Swimming Pool "Archimedes" for 40 years. His father that was himself a sports enthusiast brought him to the stadium for the first time at the age of four. As a boy, Vladimir skated here on the rink, played hockey and trained in the football section of the famous coach Valentin Kislov.

Vladimir Lomakin said that on the eve of the anniversary, he and his colleagues decided to learn more about the history of the Stadium's establishment and development and asked sports veterans to share their memories and show them surviving photographs. Fortunately, they succeeded to learn a lot of interesting things, for example, the athletes of those years still remember the Dynamo veterans' football match with the legendary goalkeeper Alexey Khomich and the meeting with the Vietnamese national team. Some valuable photographs are currently restored and the data will be accumulated and stored in the future. There are still many blank spots in the history of this sports facility that need to be uncovered. So far, no information has been found about who was the Stadium's first director until 1961, when Vladimir Ukleykin was appointed to this position. He was later replaced by Boris Somov that headed the Stadium for many years.

It is known that the weightlifting section was opened here already in 1955. According to the recollections of veterans, only three people could train at the same time in the allocated and equipped room, the rest waited for their turn to go out on the training platform in the corridor, a little later, the section moved to the Cultural Center "Mir" and afterwards, found a permanent place of residence in the already constructed JINR Sports Club. Speaking about the weightlifting section, it is impossible not to mention the wonderful coach Yury Masloboev. Thanks to his original training methods, he trained 43 USSR Masters of Sports and International Masters of Sports in strength sports in the city.

The first chess section on the right bank was also opened on the Stadium's base. Under the auspices of JINR, even international grandmaster tournaments, world championship matches and all-Union competitions were held here. Dubna athletes traveled to chess events in other cities, making worthy competition for their rivals. Among the students of this section are Vladimir Malakhov, an international grandmaster, Anatoly Slesarenko, a world champion in composing chess tasks and there are masters of sports of Russia and FIDE masters.

Expanding their sports horizons, the sections nominated their athletes and teams for competitions at various levels. Sports associations had something to be proud of, persistent training helped to achieve high results. In 1969, the students of the JINR hockey section became winners of the All-Union tournament for the prizes of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper "Molodost-69". Schoolchildren spent a lot of time at the Stadium. In the warm season - football, in winter - hockey, skating, skiing. Today's Ski Stadium "Yude-Kon" (popularly called the Kotlovan) was under the jurisdiction of the Institute, there was also a children's sports school that was later transferred to the city. In difficult times, the fate of the Stadium that was preserved in the JINR sports infrastructure at the cost of considerable efforts was uncertain twice.

The job of Sports Complex Director is not easy; in addition to sports achievements, organizational skills turned out to be much more important.

"We had to go through a lot," Vladimir Lomakin recalls. "It has been difficult at times, but JINR Directorate has always helped as much as could. The decision made more than 20 years ago to make us a self-supporting division was right and timely: we mastered new methods of management and learned to earn money. Sports Complex Director noted that the last 10 years have been the most significant for the Stadium in terms of developing the material and sports base.

Head of the sports and mass sector of the JINR Sports Complex Amira Travina said that over the 70 years of functioning of the Stadium "Nauka", the number of sports and events held there has increased several times. People of different generations train here. After the reconstruction, a large football field with natural grass, a mini-football field with artificial grass were opened, the updated running track and basketball court that is flooded in winter for hockey training are very popular with fans of physical education and sports. For many years, the Ski School "Istina" has been based at the Stadium. The court located here is the only one in the city. This one of the oldest and most exotic sports is currently revived, arousing interest among very young children. Athletes are trained by Igor Fetisov and always successfully perform at the Moscow and Russian Cups. The strongest JINR volleyball team in the science city has been coached by Nikolay Tamberg for several decades, the Stadium is the team's training base. The Stadium "Nauka" also includes a hall with a climbing wall installed and the only specialized areas in the city - a table tennis hall with renewed equipment (coach - international master of sports Inna Tikhomirova) and a chess room that after the renovation became even more beautiful and cozy.

The choice of activities is huge - all the halls, all the premises, the open-air areas are used, a workout area has been open for several years, a mini-town has been built for children. The shooting range offers archery and air rifle shooting training and one can also take up historical medieval combat, a young sport that appeared in the 1990s. There are currently about 10 fighters in the team, they study ancient weapons, learn how to wield a sword well, to build protection and to reconstruct armor.

In summer, the Stadium offers bike rental with branded modern bicycles. And in winter, the running track and areas behind the field are filled with ice rinks that are very popular with the citizens of Dubna. You can rent skates and skis, the range of which is updated annually. After a good time outdoors, you can warm up in a cozy room, drink tea or coffee.

Every year, the Stadium hosts competitions in many sports, including the JINR Spartakiad dedicated to the Institute's Foundation Day (employees and their family members participate in it), city tournaments and tournaments within the Spartakiad of physical culture teams of city enterprises, where the JINR team always takes the leading positions. Traditional tournaments in memory of JINR academicians and employees, as well as those dedicated to holidays and significant dates, are in the schedule of events. The tennis courts invariably attract a large number of participants and fans on the Physical Culture Day, the city championship and the closing of the season. The Running Club "Arbuz" holds an annual large sports festival for track and field fans and the Football School "Meteoryata" holds competitions for small children.

Vladimir Lomakin emphasized that more than half of the JINR employees visit the Sports Complex, young scientists and specialists actively participate in the Institute's sports life. In conclusion, Vladimir Lomakin shared his future plans. The development project includes renovation of the table tennis hall, a bike path, installation of new architectural forms, a rope complex for children's attractions and further work on lighting the territory. They are going to replace the old concrete fence after the re-equipment of the heating main that is currently located along the fence. There is also a dream - to organize a skating rink with artificial ice, but it requires extra energy capacity.

"During all these 70 years of the life of the Stadium "Nauka", the main wealth and achievement, of course, have been people," Head of the JINR Social Infrastructure Management Office Andrey Tamonov emphasized. "These are athletes, coaches and the employees of the Stadium that despite any weather conditions constantly maintain and prepare sports facilities for their favorite athletes. Of course, the Stadium is always proud of its sports veterans, its students, who Vladimir Lomakin spoke about. And today, within the walls of the Stadium, their worthy replacement increases - both in sports and in science! Happy anniversary, beloved stadium!

Evgeniya STEIN