This year, for the first time within the framework of UEFA's continuous development program, the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) organized and conducted free training for internally displaced persons under the C-license program. The initiative was implemented in cooperation with the UN Refugee Agency, the charitable foundation "Rockada," and with the support of a UEFA grant to assist refugees.

The UEFA C-license program provides qualified training according to UEFA requirements for coaches and enhances their knowledge, skills, and qualifications when working with children's and amateur teams.

"At our local level as the UNHCR, we have been collaborating with sports for a long time, but previously it was more focused: we formed teams from refugees themselves, and they played among each other or against local teams. This was more focused on their integration, which is one of the goals we pursue when supporting sports. But this project includes, for example, a component involving training coaches. It improves their skills, opening up more opportunities for them to integrate as professionals. And from another perspective, it also contributes to communities where they will work with children, because sports are also a significant component in psychological support for children. I hope that these trainings will have another impact and result for community members where they will be working. And the tournament (Ukrainian Unity Cup 2023, organized similarly to UEFA's EURO UNITY CUP and UNHCR's tournament. — Ed.) was great overall, I enjoyed it: children were captivated, playing, and for parents it was a relief. I did not expect such an impact on the parents, they said: 'We forgot about war for three days.' And that was wonderful," — comments Tetyana Lovtsova, assistant at the community level in UNHCR's protection unit.

Photos by the press service of UAF

The training, which began in September this year, was intensive. In addition to theoretical sessions, all participants had to undergo practical work directly with children. They also got acquainted with how a football club operates. This involved FC "YUKSA" (Tarasivka village, Kyiv region), where they were given a tour and informed about the methodology of working with children's teams.

Photos by the press service of UAF

After completing the training, participants met with First Vice President of the Ukrainian Football Association Vadim Kostyuchenko and Honored Coach of Ukraine, General Secretary of the All-Ukrainian Union of Football Coaches Anatoliy Buzyk. During this meeting, coaches received sports kits.

Photos by the press service of UAF

After five training sessions and practice, 17 individuals successfully passed exams and completed their training.

Thanks to cooperation with UNHCR, Alina Kaidalovska, an internally displaced person, participated in the program. Alina is a current player for FC "Mariupol." Until she was 27 years old, she lived in Mariupol. During the full-scale invasion, she moved to Bulgaria where she stayed for half a year before returning to Ukraine — to Kyiv, where she still lives today. She had planned to train as a coach for a long time, so when offered an interview and later training course, she agreed immediately. Summarizing her experience, Alina notes: "Now I'm coaching small children, and I didn't understand what approach was needed with them or how much load could be given to them at the age of eight years old. For example, I did not know that they cannot play with their heads, nor can speed be developed in such young ages, so this training was very informative for me, and now I want to work with older children and already know what I can do with them."

Photos by the press service of UAF

"Communication and establishing interaction with parents, proper and correct formulation of thoughts and conveying accurate information. Football is not just a sport but also a science," — this is how Oleh Bugayov summarizes his training. He moved to Kyiv from Kharkiv and has been working with children aged one-and-a-half to six years old at the early development center "Football." His plans include developing, acquiring experience, and sharing it.

"First of all, I would like to thank our partners — UNHCR, charitable foundation 'Rockada,' and UEFA — for their continuous support. The main goal of this project was to raise the level of knowledge, skills, and qualifications of coaches working with children's and amateur teams, as well as those who plan to become coaches, thereby expanding access to the job market for graduates. Additionally, a special task of the overall project is professional development, cultural exchange, and psychological recreation for children from internally displaced families. Thus, together with partners, we organized the first tournament 'Unity Cup' (Ukrainian Unity Cup) similar to the European tournament EURO UNITY CUP. Its uniqueness lies in highlighting football as a powerful tool that unites people, supports physical and mental health, and promotes integration of forcibly displaced persons into receiving communities.

This month we have graduated 17 qualified coaches who are ready to work with children's and amateur teams. So I congratulate everyone on successfully passing the exam and wish you success! The most important thing is that our coaches can start working with children under peaceful Ukrainian skies as soon as possible," — emphasized Vadim Kostyuchenko.

Yevhen Lopushko, who moved from Kharkiv to Rivne, successfully passed the exam and plans to coach children. Football in Yevgen's life was amateur rather than professional.

"A lot of positive emotions and a great deal of useful information that I will take (already took part of it) as ammunition for the future. I would like to thank everyone — speakers, curators, organizers — for this training opportunity and support throughout the course. As for plans for the future — I want to try organizing free training sessions for children from internally displaced families and large families in Rivne. This is experience for me. Whether it works or not, but such plans exist," — summarized the young coach.

All graduates of the UEFA C-license program received basic sports equipment for coaching and working with children.

Photos by the press service of UAF