Daugavpils Shooting Program: Petition Update

In order for the initiative to be submitted to Daugavpils municipality, at least 300 signatures were required, but it has already been signed by more than 400 residents, thus exceeding the established threshold. The representative of the initiative is Alexander Petrichenko.

The collection of signatures has been started in connection with the plan of the Daugavpils Sports School and the municipality management to eliminate shooting as a professional orientation program, instead of which only interest education classes – a group. In the opinion of the representatives of the initiative, such a plan would threaten the long-established sports tradition in Daugavpils and significantly limit the opportunities of children and young people to develop professional sportsmanship skills.

The initiative emphasizes that students in the professional orientation program have the opportunity to participate in Latvian and international level competitions, meet sports standards and, after graduating from the program, receive a diploma for professional orientation sports education, which paves the way for a future career in sports, including the profession of a coach. On the other hand, the interest education group, according to the authors of the initiative, is mainly focused on the employment of children and is not oriented towards the development of high sports achievements.

The initiative also mentions that the shooting department in Daugavpils has been operating since 1961 and its students have achieved significant success in Latvian championships, Latvian Cups and international competitions in recent years, representing Latvia in European level tournaments.