In 1949, at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski," a Department of Physical Education was established with five instructors who conducted organized sessions in athletics, gymnastics, and swimming. Three decades later, the department employed 25 instructors – honored coaches, honored masters, and masters of sport. The sports program was significantly expanded and enriched, including both academic sports (basketball, volleyball, tennis, fencing) as well as popular ones (football, judo, and skiing). As a result of new trends in sports, student interest, and the increasing number of trainees, new sports disciplines were introduced such as aerobics, calisthenics, bodybuilding, sailing, tourism, sports climbing, table tennis, archery, rowing, jogging, ballroom dance, and others. For all students with health deviations, regular kinesitherapy sessions were introduced as early as 1963, and later, in 1984, a Kinesitherapy Center was established for targeted staged and late rehabilitation of teachers, students, and staff through physical therapy.
The department trains students from all faculties of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in over 20 types of sports according to approved curricula for the respective sports disciplines. The methodological programs for physical development and recreation are adapted to the physical abilities and motivation for sports activities of the students.
Over 6,000 students from all faculties of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” are trained according to approved curricula in the following sports disciplines:
aerobics, basketball, volleyball, jogging, judo, kinesitherapy (yoga), calisthenics, athletics, swimming, self-defense for women, alpine skiing disciplines, sport climbing, modern dance, tennis, hiking and orienteering, fencing, fitness, football, chess.
According to the current Higher Education Act and the Sports Act, students from higher education institutions are required to participate in sports activities with a workload of 60 hours per year during their studies. The Sports Department provides students with the opportunity to choose the sport and the form of training: regular groups, groups specialized in the respective sport, and representative teams of Sofia University. In addition, students can engage in more than one sport or change the type of sport in each subsequent academic year. Students are assessed with an exam at the end of the year.
Specialists at the Kinesiotherapy Center conduct individual sessions with students who have health deviations. The sports instructors carry out the selection and management of the university representative teams, which participate in competitions at various levels (student, national, and state championships, in various types of sports events in the country and abroad).
Since 2002, Sofia University has had a representative goalball team (a sport for people with visual impairments), which participates in international competitions with successful placement.
The Department of Sports organizes and conducts educational and sports practices for the students of the University during the winter and summer, with the opportunity to practice sports such as skiing, swimming, surfing, tennis, beach volleyball, and others. Every year, after already proven sports achievements, the Department nominates the best athletes of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski".