At the end of April, the Ukrainian Football Association held a training course on a new program for advanced training of teachers and coaches for football with children with special educational needs and people with disabilities. The program was approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, it provides 1 credit (30 hours) in the state system of advanced training. The course participants, who became participants in the project "Inclusive Football Sections", also received certificates for the UAF D-diploma.

Representatives of 20 regions got acquainted with the project concept, discussed the importance of an inclusive approach and the peculiarities of psychomotor development of children with ASD. The participants attended a practical session of the Kyiv section for children with autism spectrum disorder, mastered inclusive and adaptive football teaching methods, and conducted training fragments on football fields themselves.

Upon completion of the training, the participants were congratulated and awarded diplomas by Oleksandr Kadenko, a member of the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian Academy of Sports, Deputy Director of the Institute for Modernization of Educational Content of the Ministry of Education and Science, Halyna Kolomoyets, and Deputy Director of the Agency for Mass Sports of Ukraine, Oleksandr Bozhok.

With the project "Inclusive Football Sections", UAF seeks to change society's attitude towards this problem and help children realize their potential through sport. The project integrates children with disabilities and special needs into children's teams, trains volunteers, and supports inclusive sections in communities.

Main results of the project:

• 35 regular inclusive football sections in 18 regions, 559 classes held;
• about 578 children involved, most of whose parents noted an improvement in their physical and mental condition;
• A new program for advanced training of teachers and trainers has been developed and approved by the Ministry of Education and Science.

In the past and current seasons, the project was implemented in the following communities: Vinnytsia, Agronomichne, Vinnytsia region, Lutsk, Novovolynsk, Volyn region, Synelnykovo, Magdalinivka, Dnipropetrovsk region, Zhytomyr, Hryshkivtsi, Zhytomyr region, Uzhhorod (2), Kalush, Rohatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Bila Tserkva, Tarascha, Kyiv region, Kropyvnytskyi (2), Busk, Lviv region (2), Odesa, Usatove, Odessa region, Poltava (2), Rivne (2), Ternopil, Zboriv, ​​Ternopil region, Khmelnytskyi (2), Cherkasy, Shpola, Cherkasy region, Chernivtsi (2), Chernihiv (2), Kyiv.

Starting next season, they will be joined by: Nemyriv in Vinnytsia region, Zabolottya in Volyn region, Burkhanivka in Dnipropetrovsk region, Korosten in Zhytomyr region, Onokivtsi in Zakarpattia region, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kivshovata in Kyiv region, Kropyvnytskyi, Novy Myliatyn in Lviv region, Pervomaisk in Mykolaiv region, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Ozerne in Ternopil region, Khmelnytskyi, Sygnaivka in Cherkasy region, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, Kyiv.