Physical education and sports activities in Bolu in the Early Years of the Republic (1923-1950)

With this thesis study titled as "Physical Education and Sports Activities in Bolu in the Early Years of the Republic (1923-1950)", physical education and sports activities carried out in Bolu were analyzed in detail. The data of the study was obtained by the document analysis method, which is commonly used in qualitative research methods, in other words, documentary scanning method. The local newspaper of the era "Bolu Gazetesi (Bolu Newspaper)" and national newspapers, the "Duygular (Emotions)" and "Abant" magazines issued by Bolu People's House and the educational magazines "Altın Yaprak (Golden Leaf)" and "Yeşil Yaprak (Green Leaf)"which were issued by the Teachers of Bolu branch of The Teachers Union, various books, articles, documents and also documents and pictures obtained from the Prime Ministry Republic Archive were analyzed to obtain information. In addition, many relevant researches, works and articles have been evaluated. Briefly, newspapers, magazines, literature, books and archives as the main sources of the period between the years 1923-1950, were used. As a result of our study, Bolu Middle School and Bolu Forestry School were the most active schools in Bolu in the field of physical education and sports, and Düzce Middle School in the districts. In addition, almost all sports branches were tried to be done in schools and scouting was the most important among these branches. The leader of the sports activities carried out in schools was the physical education teacher Mehmet Can Bey (Canyolaç). Also, in the first years of the Republic, Bolu People's House played the role of Bolu's sports life as much as the schools. In addition to sports activities in schools, the public and the students also enrolled in the sports branch of Bolu People's House and continued to sport. Bolu People's House, which was opened in the first years of the Republic, enabled the sports activities to be more disciplined and systematic. In many areas from skiing to table tennis, People's House provided training and competitions for young people. Skiing was one of the most active sports activities within the People's House and in Bolu, due to its geographical structure and favorable climate conditions. Esentepe, a ski center located in Gerede, and Abant were preferred as ski resorts. In addition, Abant, which is used as a sports field, has been in the center view of a wide range of sports branches. The sporting activities in Bolu were celebrated as a sports feast especially on the national holidays and important and special dates for the province, like 17th of July, which is the visiting date of Atatürk to Bolu