This time, a network of volunteers was trained and created from Vinnytsia (Demkivka Trostyanets Community and Severinivska Community), Zhytomyr (Lubartiv Community and Korosten Community), Kirovohrad (Perovo Community and Oleksandrivska Community), and Cherkasy (Zolotonosha Community and Kamianka Community) regions.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

The regional coordinators for the project were Oleksandr Sydoruk (from Vinnytsia Oblast Football Association), Ruslan Mayevskyi (from Zhytomyr Oblast Football Association), Oleksii Kravchenko (from Kirovohrad Oblast Football Association) and Bohdan Kulynych (from Cherkasy Oblast Football Association).

The volunteers underwent training on a webinar involving the project coordinator from UAF, Yevhen Stolitenko, Deputy Head of the Mass Sports Department and Social Projects Division, Oksana Vladimirova, as well as leading national experts Oleksii Lazarenko and Yuriy Lutsenko. The specialists provided invaluable innovative material regarding psychological support for children and methods to teach them knowledge to minimize risks from explosive hazardous items, mines, and emergency situations related to the war through football activities.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

The volunteers not only received necessary knowledge but also equipment and supplies for implementing the project.

The Ukrainian Football Association's "Open Fun Football Schools" project, supported by Common Goal and the Cross-Cultural Projects Association (Denmark), is:

• psychosocial support for children of internally displaced persons (IDPs), children of military service members, and those affected by the war;
• uniting and friendship between IDP children and local children, social integration;
• inclusive environment, participation regardless of ability level or gender, as well as inclusion of children with special educational needs;
• knowledge about safety in wartime conditions;
• philosophy of mass football - joy from the game instead of any price for results;
• cultivation of a healthy lifestyle;
• volunteer development;
• activation of local communities through cross-sectoral networks (teachers, coaches, psychologists, safety experts, parents, youth leaders, local authorities, patrons, etc.).