City Center for Physical Culture

Gradski centar za fizičku kulturu
Deligradska 27,
tel: 2658-747, fax: 2682-646
www.staridif.rs

Director: Vladimir Janković

The first institution that was situated in the building, constructed in 1936, was the Soko Hall (“Soko”, meaning “falcon”, was a popular name for sports clubs at the time, and there existed the Soko Gymnastics Society), and it later developed into the State Institute of Physical Culture - DIF and, as a City Center for Physical Culture, it started operating in 1971.

The building of the Old DIF accommodates the Sports Association of Belgrade, which gathers together over 40 professional associations, with over 100,000 registered sports persons and a thousand clubs, which are in charge of the organization of both the domestic and international sporting events. On March 4, 1945, the Sports Society "Red Star" was formed in this building.

The City Center for Physical Culture monitors, popularizes, and implements, both the programs of mass physical culture and recreation, and the programs of training and workout of top sports persons. In the halls, on outdoor areas for court games, in the swimming pools and other specialized premises of the Center, the pupils of elementary and secondary schools and the students of the Belgrade University attend their regular lessons of physical education and engage in extramural activities, and the smaller children are instructed in the swimming, rhythmics, and gymnastics schools, etc.

The adults use the services of the center in the form of therapeutic recreation (trim cabinet, swimming pool, sauna), aerobics, yoga, jazz ballet, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, indoor football, while the top sports persons have trainings in volleyball, karate, rhythmic gymnastics, and other sports, workout for the big local and international competitions. Specialized services in the hydro-block (hydro- and hand massage, sauna...) and the services of the local clinic (doctors’ checkups, physiatric procedures on apparatuses, anti-cellulite treatment, solarium and hyperbaric chamber) are interesting for a great number of users, and there are around 3000 of them a day.