The October Diploma of 1860 and the February Patent of 1861 after the fall of Bach absolutism in the Habsburg Empire resulted in the revival of associations and sociability in public life and, in that context, also in the revival of physical education. Ideas for organizing societies had been present earlier: in 1831, the Rohrschützen Gesellschaft had transformed the early modern practice of shooting drills, held by a militia of the Ljubljana townspeople, into the sociable pastime of target shooting with a dedicated shooting range; after the creation of Yugoslavia in 1918, the association rechristened itself into Društvo Ljubljanskih Ostrostrelcev (The Society of Ljubljana Sharpshooters). More shooting societies, both Slovene and German, appeared in the second half of the 19th century.

After the constitutional changes in the Habsburg Empire, the gymnasts of Ljubljana formed a Slovene-German Utraquist Gymnastics Society in the summer of 1862. Language issues soon led to a split: in the autumn of the same year the Germans formed a Turnverein (Gymnastics Society), and the Slovenes a Južni Sokol (“Southern Falcon”) in October 1863. The choice of this name marked the Slovene adoption of the Czech Sokol format as established in Prague, in a Pan-Slavic spirit. Južni Sokol was in 1867 disbanded by the authorities because of the so-called “Sokol excess”, a fight between Germans and Slovenes (members of Južni Sokol) in the town, which spilled over into national and political conflicts. Soon after, in 1868, the new Ljubljana Sokol Society was formed; it started the Sokol movement in Slovenia, which, in the 1880s, grew into a widespread and modern civil society movement. By visiting Zagreb in 1866 and 1874, the Ljubljana gymnasts encouraged the formation of Hrvaški Sokol (“Croatian Sokol”) in 1874. In 1905, Slovene Sokol societies merged into the Slovene Sokol Union with district headquarters in the larger regional centres: Trieste, Gorizia, Idrija, Novo Mesto, Kranj, Celje and Maribor; this inter-urban reticulation process thus transcended the traditional provincial divisions of the Slovenian lands. As such, the Sokol movement was the physical education side of the Zedinjena Slovenija (United Slovenia) programme. In 1907, the Slovene Sokol Union became a member of the International Gymnastics Association, and Slovene gymnasts became representatives of their nation in international competitions, using its name well before there was a political entity called Slovenia. Internally, visibility and mobilizing potential were ensured by the Sokol zlet (gymnastics festivals) held in Ljubljana, first in 1888, a second one in 1904. A third festival was planned for 1913, but was banned by the provincial government because of its potential to unite southern Slavic Sokol movements. At this point, the Sokol movement had over 110 societies and almost 8000 members.

The growing re-Catholicizing of the Slovene provinces in the 19th century triggered a confessionalization conflict. When numerous Catholic Sokol members failed to Catholicize the association, they formed their own Catholic gymnastic sections within their own organizations (1905). These sections united into a union which, in 1909, was named Orel (Eagle). Organizationally, Orel was based on a Catholic membership, but its expert base was in the Sokol movement. The number of Catholic gymnastic organizations and their members grew rapidly, and, in 1913, consisted of almost 170 sections with more than 5000 members.

In 1862, Habsburg Germans formed the first mountaineering society, which in 1873 merged into the overarching Deutscher und österreicher Alpenverein. That society had its branches in Slovene provinces, with the Carniola one formed as early as 1874. There was also an initiative among the Slovenes to form a similar society in the Bohinj area in 1872, but it was short-lived. In 1893 Slovene mountain-lovers formed Slovensko Planinsko Društvo (SPD – Slovene Mountaineering Society). They campaigned to preserve the Slovenian aspects of the mountains, especially the highest one, Triglav (2864 m), fearing a visual Germanization by means of signs and signposts. SPD, which spread its network of branches throughout the Slovene provinces, marked paths, built huts and published the Planinski vestnik (“Mountaineering newsletter”) from 1895. They also won the battle for Triglav, thanks to the priest and society member Jakob Aljaž, who built the still-standing Aljaž tower at the top of the mountain. As a result of Pan-Slavic connections, there was also a Czech branch which in 1899 built the Czech hut in Ravne in the Savinja Alps. By 1914, SPD had 26 branches with more than 3300 members.

Cycling played an important role in the development of sports and competitiveness in Europe. This was also the case for the Slovene provinces, where the first society, the German Laibacher Bicycle Club, was formed in 1885 and the Slovene Klub Slovenskih Biciklistov Ljubljana (Ljubljana Club of Slovene Cyclists) in 1887. In the 1890s, the number of cycling societies rose. They organized road races, as well as social cycling and races on purpose-built tracks in Trieste, Gorizia and Ljubljana. There were some important cycling societies: Balkan in Trieste and Gorica and Danica in Gorizia, where the first Slovene football club, called Jugoslavija (Southern Slavia), was also formed in 1911. Cycling declined in Ljubljana and in Carniola at the turn of the century, as other sports, notably football, took the lead. Ilirija Football Club was formed in 1911 and soon also started promoting swimming, athletics, sledging, as well as skiing. A similar German club, more football-oriented, was founded in Ljubljana in 1900, but soon dwindled as the Slovene club prevailed. In the meantime, several German sports societies were formed in Styria, for example in Celje and Maribor. Unlike the Slovene gymnastics societies, which took part in Slovene-Slavic competitions, the Slovene sports societies competed with their German and Italian neighbours and encouraged the first ethnically-based competitions. Apart from Ilirija, there was also Ljubljanski Sportni Klub (Ljubljana Sports Club), which specialized in rowing and winter sports.