Local services
On Friday, 4 April 2025, Debrecen’s main square was filled with competitors and obstacles. For the third time, the sports day, named after the late legendary fire chief, Dr. Jeno Roncsik, was held.
Director of the Hajdú-Bihar County Fire Brigade Directorate Antal Tamás Pintér said that while in 2023 the event was a tradition-building competition, today it is a traditional competition. As the Director put it, “The namesake of the competition, Dr. Jenő vitéz Roncsik, is an icon of the fire service, a polymath. He played a significant role in the foundation of the fire service, and he passed on to posterity many useful and applicable admonitions that can still be used today.”
The community sports day, which has several hundred participants, was created through a wide-ranging collaboration between the Debrecen-Great Church Reformed Parish, the Debrecen Honvéd Sports Association, the County Disaster Management Directorate, and the city municipality.
Deputy Mayor Diána Széles believes it is essential that people meet not only at work or school but also have community experiences that inspire movement.
Two competitions occurred at the same time as part of the sports day. Teams from various organisations tried to climb the stairs to the Great Church tower as quickly as possible while secondary school students tested their skills in a unique circuit competition.
As President of the Debrecen Honvéd Sports Association, Károly Gyöngyösi told about this, “The 11th and 12th grade secondary school students participated in an exathlon obstacle-survival competition that included theoretical, practical and technical events. The teams naturally wanted to achieve the best possible results. However, the event’s main goal was still for the young people to get to know the everyday lives of life-saving professionals during the good-natured competition.”
According to the President-pastor of the Debrecen-Nagytemplom Reformed Parish, István Oláh, it is very, very important that the parish and the congregation support the protection of life and the provision of new personnel for people whose calling is to protect the lives and buildings of the residents of Debrecen.
Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu
