Sport in Croatia to some extent table tennis and chess. Various amateur sport games are popular in Croatia, notably picigin. Franjo Bučar (1866–1946) is widely considered to be the father of modern Croatian sport. He founded the Croatian Sports Federation in 1909 within what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Bučar introduced a multitude of mainstream sports in Croatia, such as football, alpine skiing, ice skating and ice hockey, as well as gymnastics and fencing. The Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport, the Republic of Croatia's highest award in the development of sport, is named in his honor. With the exception of the years
Minister for Sport and Civil Society Minister for Sport and Civil Society The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society is a junior minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for sport and Civil Society in England. The current postholder is Mims Davies. The post is currently at Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State level covering sport, Tourism and Heritage. The position of Minister for Sport was previously at the more senior Minister of State level in the previous government. The sports minister has at various times previously reported to the Department of National Heritage, the