ONLY one per cent of recruits to the National Guard are in excellent physical condition according to the Cyprus Sports Organisation (KOA).
The revelations were made yesterday by KOA chairman Costas Papacostas during a meeting of the House Defence Committee, at which the issue of improving soldiers’ fitness levels was discussed.
According to Papacostas, only one per cent of recruits are in an excellent physical condition, with just 11 per cent being in a good condition and 12 per cent whose fitness levels were described as satisfactory.
In previous years, physical education in the National Guard was carried out by officers, but in 1999 and in collaboration with KOA the National Guard implemented a programme to combat obesity in the army and to improve fitness levels for soldiers.
DISY deputy Soteris Sampson said the situation was tragic and blamed the recruits’ poor fitness levels on insufficient physical education programmes in schools.
“Studies have shown that that the physical condition of soldiers when they enlist is tragic,” he said.
KOA has been shouldering the cost of training the soldiers – an estimated £200,000 a year – and has introduced 25 trainers nationwide to train soldiers on a 23-hour a week programme.
Sampson said the Defence Committee should seriously consider the problems faced by KOA and look into ways to increase the budget of the organisation; he also urged the Ministry of Education to improve its physical education programmes in schools.
“KOA is not allowed to be involved with school training,” he said.
“But a study showed that more than half of the students that enlist have a serious problem with physical condition. More than half are obese and they have a problem because of the training they received at school,” Sampson added.
Samson’s comments were echoed by Papacostas, who added, however, that since the programme had been implemented, there had been noticeable improvements in soldiers’ fitness within three months.
“Soldiers now carry out 23 hours of PE, which is difficult because they also have other duties, so for us, their fitness level are satisfactory,” he said.
“We are now able to say that our soldiers can run 2,300 metres – a distance football referees have to run during their fitness tests – and they pass it.
“But we need further to upgrade the programme and this entails more money, because let’s not forget that we also spend a lot of money on upgrading other sports facilities that are not linked with the army.”
Defence Committee Chairman Yiannakis Omirou said the issue would be taken into consideration and that the committee would make the relevant suggestions to the Plenum.
