Today for the first time, the Serednyansky Stadium hosted experts from the UAF who, together with coaches of higher-level teams (TG), tested children from the lower school age group, who live in rural areas and due to certain reasons are not involved in organized football, as well as displaced children.

Photo by the press service of UAF

At the ceremonial opening of the event, participants were greeted by Valeriy Zolotukhin – head of the youth football department at UAF, Ruslan Chornak – chairman of the Serednyansky City Council, and Oleksandr Peca – head of the youth and sports department of the Serednyansky City Council.

After performing the National Anthem, all participants observed a minute of silence in honor of fallen soldiers. During the opening ceremony, teachers and coaches were presented with football equipment and balls from UAF, while children received certificates and medals for their participation in this new interesting project. 

Photo by the press service of UAF

As part of a pilot project to implement FIFA's Talent Development Program, UAF focused on identifying young talents through testing their natural physical abilities and further organizational support for the development of identified potential talents. This process must certainly be nationwide, but currently it is at the regional level, specifically – teams (TG), towns, and villages, where children have never been involved in similar testing or organized football processes. This approach will allow for the maximum identification and support of all talented players by informing nearby youth football academies and DYSHS about their potential.

Photo by the press service of UAF

The main tool of the project is an analytical system, specially developed for testing children aged 8-12 to assess physical abilities and potential for development in case they are involved in a professionally organized training process. Both boys and girls participated in the project. In total, 158 young football players were tested in two communities.