From September 4-5 at the stadium in the village of Kadubivtsi, located within what was formerly the Zastavnyvsky district and is now the Chernivetsky district, "Open Football Lessons" were held — one of the most beloved sports-social projects on Bukovyna among both parents and children. This is a social project by the Ukrainian Football Association and the international organization UEFA Foundation for Children.

This fall in Chernivtsi Oblast, the project first visited Kadubivtsi, where open football lessons were attended by children from six villages of the Kadubovetsky T.G. and the city of Zastavna. A total of 144 children participated in the project. Next, "Open Football Lessons" will head to Kelmintsi and Vyzhnytsia.

Photo by the press service of UAF

Participants in "Open Football Lessons" were greeted by Oleksandr Plakhov, executive director of the Chernivtsi Oblast Football Association, and Mykola Katerinchuk, head of the Kadubovetsky T.G.

During the project, volunteers included students from the Physical Education (Physical Culture) specialty at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Human Health at Chernivtsi National University, representing the Department of Physical Culture and Basic Health under the leadership of Doctor of Sciences, Professor Yuri Mosiychuk. The head of the student "brigade" was a lecturer from the department, football referee of Chernivtsi Oblast Serhiy Dariychuk. Students gained valuable experience on their path to development and self-improvement through participation in the project.

Photo by the press service of UAF

We remind you that the Ukrainian Football Association's "Open Football Lessons" project (Open Fun Football Schools), supported by UEFA Children’s Fund and the Cross-Cultural Projects Association (Denmark), is:

- psychosocial support for children of war, children of military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and children affected by the war;

- uniting and friendship between IDP children and local children, social integration;

- an inclusive environment where participants are independent of their level of ability, gender, as well as the participation of children with special educational needs;

- knowledge about safety in wartime conditions;

- philosophy of mass football — joy from playing rather than results at any cost;

- fostering a healthy lifestyle;

- development of volunteering;

- activation of local communities through cross-sector networks (teachers, coaches, psychologists, security experts, parents, youth leaders, local authorities, patrons, etc.).

According to preliminary information from oblast football associations in 2022, the project will be hosted by these communities:

- Vinnytsia Oblast — Vinnytsia, Khmilnyk, Kalynivka;

- Volyn Oblast — Lutsk, Horokhiv, Volymer;

- Zhytomyr Oblast — Korostyshiv, Romanyv;

- Zakarpattia Oblast — Irshava, Mukachevsky district, Veliki Berezhny Uzhhorodsky district;

- Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast — Kolomyia, Kalush, Verkhovyna;

- Kyiv Oblast — Bila Tserkva, Blistavitsya Buchanskyi T.G., Bucha, Borodyanka, Vasylkiv;

- Kirovohrad Oblast — Kropyvnytskyi, Oleksandria;

- Lviv Oblast — Busk, Stryi, Verkhnya Bilyka Lvivsky district;

- Rivne Oblast — Hoshcha, Kostenpel, Zdohluniv;

- Ternopil Oblast — Monastyryska, Tovste, Baykivtsi;

- Khmelnytskyi Oblast — Stara Synyva, Bilyhorod, Theofipol;

- Cherkasy Oblast — Cherkasy, Korchubiyovka Uman district;

- Chernivtsi Oblast — Vyzhnytsia, Kelmintsi, Kadubivtsi.