"Open football lessons" is a project where every child is a winner

05.07.2021 16:20

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"An important social mission of the project is that we pay the most attention to and involve migrant children from eastern Ukraine and Crimea, as well as children of servicemen," said Anatoliy Demyanenko, First Vice President of the Ukrainian Football Association. 

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For the second year in a row, the Open Football Lessons project is being held in a new format, adapted to all sanitary and anti-epidemic norms. Traditionally, the season of this year's festivals began in April with training - three seminars held in Zaporozhye for volunteers and project leaders. Given the coronavirus pandemic, the workshops focused on teaching volunteers to carry out project activities in a new format.

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“The project provides a good opportunity to involve all students in sports and organize for them the first open football lessons, which are led by trained coaches, volunteers and famous players. Thanks to interesting master classes, boys and girls are fond of football, enroll in sections and win the first small victories in their lives. 

To date, 2700 children who have not played sports before have taken part in the festivals. Interestingly, one of the positive results of the project is also the development of women's football, because among the participants of the festivals were more than a third of girls, many of whom first learned the basics of the game of football. 

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"Open football lessons" develop a volunteer network. This year we have already attracted 675 volunteers, most of them have expressed a desire to become regular participants in UAF social projects, and some - and to undergo advanced training in the recently introduced D-diploma courses of the UAF. 

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"Open football lessons" were held in 27 communities, and as a result of the project, the regions received a large number of footballs, equipment and gear, which is especially relevant for small towns and rural areas. We are grateful to our international partners, first of all to the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, who provided active support, especially in the eastern and southern regions, ”summed up the First Vice-President of the UAF Anatoliy Demyanenko.

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We remind you that the Open Fun Football Schools project is implemented within the framework of cooperation between civil society and the public sector for peace, social integration and protection of children in Ukraine, funded by the European Union. The main executors of the project are the Association of Cross-Cultural Projects (Denmark), the Ukrainian Football Association, the All-Ukrainian Foundation for the Protection of Children's Rights, StreetFootballWorld (Germany) in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine.