A movement that connects Estonia: 125 Years of the Estonian Sports Association Kalev
A movement that connects generations and that Estonians have carried across the world even through the most difficult times – the Estonian Sports Association Kalev.
The Estonian Sports Association Kalev is about more than sport and health – Kalev itself is a form of Estonianness.
To be a member of Kalev means believing that a strong nation is built through exercise, a sense of belonging and love for one’s culture and homeland. In order for future generations to carry the Estonian cultural identity forward, we need a healthy and strong people – people who come together, act together and share common values.
KALEV has carried these values for 125 years.
For more than a century, the organisation has served as a spiritual home for Estonianness – a place where people gather and where exercise has nourished both body and soul. For many, being part of Kalev has been a meaningful part of life itself.
The values on which Kalev stands never grow old. New ideas move us forward, while strong roots help preserve and pass on our values. Kalev’s strength lies in its history, continuity and the spirit of Estonianness.
It is precisely this Kalev spirit of Estonianness that keeps the organisation alive, gives it meaning and carries it into the future – into new decades, centuries and generations.
This year, the Estonian Sports Association Kalev celebrates its 125th anniversary. Founded in 1901, Kalev is more than a sports organisation – it is a movement that unites people, strengthens national identity and carries forward our cultural heritage.
The year 2026 will also see the VII Estonian Gymnastics Festival. In addition, 150 years will have passed since Estonia’s first gymnastics festival. The event also honours the 125th anniversary of the birth of Ernst Idla – a man widely regarded as one of the founders of Estonian stadium gymnastics. Idla (1901–1980), known as the “Wizard of Tallinn”, studied in Germany on a Kalev scholarship and graduated from the Berlin College of Physical Education in 1925.
Ernst Idla’s vision was ahead of its time: gymnastics was not meant to be merely a sport, but a way of life – for everyone, regardless of age, gender or ability. He introduced music, rhythm and aesthetics into gymnastics, transforming exercise into an art form. In 1934, he was one of the organisers of the Estonian Games, an event that laid the foundation for large-scale stadium performances.
Having fled to Sweden during the turmoil of the Second World War, Idla continued his work within the Estonian diaspora. His system was quickly embraced and developed into an internationally influential philosophy of exercise. Idla’s ideas – natural movement, rhythm and a human-centred approach – continue to live on in modern gymnastics and can still be clearly felt in gymnastics festival programmes, where movement tells stories of nature, the seasons and life in Estonia.
Idla’s legacy has not remained confined to history – it lives on through his students and successors. In Sweden, his granddaughter Katarina Ström Idla continues to preserve and promote it. His gifted student Tiina Leesment-Bergh also carried Idla’s ideas forward after emigrating to Sweden, where she founded her own gymnastics club in Malmö and shaped generations of female gymnasts.
The story of Kalev does not end in Estonia. The spirit of Kalev spread across the world. After the Second World War, Estonian communities abroad established sports associations and groups that carried forward Estonia’s culture of movement – in Sweden, Canada, the United States and Australia.
One outstanding example in Canada is the Kalev-Estienne gymnastics school in Toronto, founded in 1951 by Ernst Idla’s student Evelyn Koop. Through her work, Idla’s philosophy of exercise reached a new continent. Today, it is the oldest group gymnastics club in Canada and one of the largest in its field.
In Sweden, the Estonian Sports Association Kalev was founded in 1947 with the aim of continuing the traditions that had begun in the homeland. Just as in Estonia, members could participate in a range of sports – gymnastics, athletics, basketball and volleyball. The association quickly became an important community centre that united Estonians and helped preserve their identity.
Kalev did not remain in Estonia – it spread across the world. In new homelands, communities emerged where exercise and the spirit of Kalev helped maintain ties with Estonia and keep alive the language, culture and sense of belonging.
The Estonian Sports Association KALEV stands for:
• exercise as a way of life
• community and togetherness
• preserving national identity
• public health
• sport and physical activity
• connecting generations
Every Kalev group – whether in Estonia, Sweden or Canada – carries the same message: we belong together.
The VII Estonian Gymnastics Festival is also an international meeting place. It is a bridge between Estonia and Estonians around the world, bringing together people united by shared roots, values, belonging and mutual support.
In 2026, as Estonia’s oldest sports organisation Kalev celebrates its 125th anniversary, the spectacular VII Estonian Gymnastics Festival “The Charm of Rural Life” will once again come to life – a shared story in which colourful formations created by thousands of performers of all ages on the stadium grass take audiences on a journey through Estonia and affirm a simple yet profound truth: exercise connects – generations, countries and people.
Kalev – United by Sport!
