Kolaša hosts MOSI next year: Sport, the best promoter of tourism

In response to extensive preparations for holding the Inter-Municipal Youth Sports Games (MOSI) next year in Kolašin, a promotion of that event was held last night, where the host's obligations and responsibilities, as well as the benefits that the city will have in terms of tourism and sports, were apostrophized.

The promotion brought together Kolašin athletes, sports workers, representatives of state and local institutions, businessmen... Kolašin is hosting MOSI for the first time, and the promoters will be basketball player Vlado Šćepanović and karate player Marina Raković.

MOSI in all cities and in all three countries (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro) are always an opportunity to improve sports infrastructure, a chance for the tourist economy and promotion of the host city, it was said last night. Major sports events in the world and in our country prove that sport is the best promoter of tourism, and tourism is the best promoter of sport, the promotion said.

Reminding that MOSI is the biggest exhibition of amateur sports in the Balkans, the secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, Savo Rašović, said that the event will be "the best promoter of the municipality of Kolašin and the country". Also, he claims, "at the same time, the representatives will take an important step towards the further regional positioning of Montenegro as an attractive sports destination".

"The recent constitution of the new 43 Government brought with it a change in the institutional framework in the field of sports and youth and the re-formation of the Ministry. The goal is to strengthen the visibility of those areas and more significant activism in the context of their further improvement. It is in this spirit that we devote significant attention to the support of international sports competitions, which represent a significant opportunity both for the further development of sports and for the promotion of the sports and tourism potential of a country, specifically, the host city," Rašović said.

He announced that the Ministry "will intensify the hitherto good cooperation with the Municipality of Kolašin in the coming period, with the aim of joint action on the plan of creating the necessary preconditions for the organization of MOSI." Rašović also promised that the Ministry and the Municipality, in cooperation with the Directorate of Public Works, will work on the most efficient implementation of capital projects that improve the sports infrastructure in Kolašin.

The promotion of MOSI Kolašin 2023 is, according to the President of the Municipal Assembly (SO) Milan Đukić, "an opportunity to recall the successes and achievements of Kolašin sport, through a long and rich history".

"Here tonight in one place are some of the greatest heroes of our time, of Kolasin, Montenegrin, Yugoslav, European and world sports. The greatest social successes of Kolašin in the post-war period were marked, among other things, by the successes of Kolašin's sports teams. The quality of life in the decades of construction of this city was provided by sports and cultural activities of which we are particularly proud. Since their inception, Kolasin clubs and Kolasin athletes have created and worked in very difficult circumstances conditioned by the climate and economy of a small mountain town. However, even in such conditions, with incredible self-confidence, with a lot of love and dedication, numerous sports results were achieved, which made Kolašin and Kolašin sports famous", Đukić reminded.

In a series of national and international successes, he said, there were also those achieved at the MOSI Games. According to him, generations of athletes from Kolašin recorded successes and brought medals from those Games. At the same time, in addition to sports results, Đukić explained, MOSI did a lot to strengthen the friendship of Kolašin with cities from the three former Yugoslav republics.

"The rich history of Kolašin sports, the enthusiasm and love of Kolašin athletes and sports workers obliged us to try to do what we all wanted, which is for Kolašin to host the MOSI Games. We who stayed to live here, we who love "Gorštak" more than any other team, we who believed and still believe in our city, wanted and won to be the hosts of such an event. MOSI Kolašin 2023 is no longer a dream, but the work of an organization for local and state institutions, sports collectives from Kolašin and national sports federations. The host of the Games in the summer of next year will not only be Kolašin, but also the state of Montenegro", said the president of the SO.

Đukić, who is also the vice-president of the MOSI Assembly, expects the help of state bodies and national sports associations, as well as the entire Kolašin economy and citizens of Kolašin.

"We will try to be good hosts, to provide the athletes with all the necessary prerequisites for achieving the desired sports results, but also to introduce them to all the beauties of Kolašin, which will make them want to come back and spend their annual vacations here with family and friends. I commend the efforts of the President of the SO Đukić, who, with his team of associates, is working tirelessly on the preparation and promotion of MOSI, which will be held in Kolasin next year," said the President of the Municipality of Kolašin, Marta Šćepanović.

Sports journalist and president of the RTCG Council, Veselin Drljević, reminded that MOSI was created from the initiative of a student from Prijepolje, from 1954, to organize a Physical Triathlon of young people from their town, as well as Priboj and Nova Varoš, as part of the student week. Later, he said, the gymnastics triathlon grew into the Sandžak Youth Sports Games, and then in 1964 into the Inter-Republic Youth Sports Games.

"The Games have become a true Olympics of Amteresian sports on the tri-border. So far, competitors at MOSI have competed in 18 sports disciplines. Since the 52nd MOSI, which was held in Požega, it has been possible for people with disabilities to compete. So far, competitions have been organized in athletics, sport fishing, chess, darts, archery and sitting volleyball. Following the Olympic Games, several winter MOSI were organized, and the hosts were Sjenica, Žabljak, Čajetina, and Rožaje in 1988. However, as the population of the tri-border area decreased and winter sports became more and more expensive, this competition was abandoned, said Drljević.