"Dream Like a King": the seventh game as part of the "Day with the Kings Team" project took place in Ternopil

On October 3, the seventh game as part of the social project "A Day with the Kings’ Team" by the Betking Foundation and its founder, Pavlo Zhurylo, took place in Ternopil. This time, 50 children and 11 professional footballers from the Niva Ternopil football club met on one pitch, UNN reports.

The match format is traditional for the project but unusual for professional football: a team of 50 children plays against 11 professional footballers.  There is no distance between the professional athletes and the young players: they take to the pitch together, score goals, celebrate successful moments and simply enjoy football.

For the children, it is an opportunity to share a pitch with professional players and feel part of a real football match. 

"I had been looking forward to this day, but I never thought we would play with footballers like this, for real. What I will remember most is the match and the fact that afterward we could talk to the players and get autographs. Now I want to train even more and one day play for a professional team too," said 11-year-old Sviatoslav Romanchuk.

Football that helps bring childhood back

"A Day with the Kings’ Team" was created specifically for children affected by the war. The participants include children of serving military personnel and fallen defenders, displaced children, as well as children from families that have experienced the consequences of Russian aggression.

The idea of the project is to give children, through sport, communication and positive emotions, an opportunity to leave their everyday worries beyond the football pitch for at least one day.

Before the match, the children trained together with professional footballers, and after the game they talked with them, took photographs, received autographs and were given presents.

"The war has taken many familiar things away from Ukrainian children, but it has not taken away their right to dream. That is why it is important for us to create moments when a child shares a pitch with professional footballers and sees that a big dream is not somewhere far away—it may be much closer than it seems. For some, this match will remain a vivid memory, while for others it will become an incentive to train, believe in their own abilities and not give up on their dream. It is for moments like these that we continue "A Day with the Kings’ Team," involve new football clubs and expand the project’s geography. We want as many Ukrainian children as possible to have this  experience," said Betking Foundation founder Pavlo Zhurylo.

FC Niva also emphasizes that participating in the project gives the club an opportunity to be closer to children for whom football has already  become a part of life.

"For our footballers, this is also a special match. On the pitch, you see not simply 50 children, but 50 young footballers who genuinely love this game. Perhaps for some of them, today’s meeting will become another incentive to continue training, work on themselves and dream of professional football. We are happy to be part of such a day and to see the children’s emotions firsthand," said Ivan Fedyk, head coach  of FC Niva Ternopil.

From one match to a nationwide project

Ternopil became the next city on the map of "A Day with the Kings’ Team." Over the course of two years, the project has brought together  more than 330 children from different cities across Ukraine.

Matches have taken place in Kyiv, Bucha, Rivne, Oleksandriia, Irpin and Uzhhorod. Professional football clubs joined the initiative and, for one day, became not athletes seen on screens and from the stands, but opponents and partners for the children on the football pitch. 

The Betking Foundation plans to continue expanding the geography of "A Day with the Kings’ Team" and involving new football clubs in the project so that children from different regions of Ukraine can take part in such matches. 

A Ukrainian project that has received international recognition

"A Day with the Kings’ Team" reached the final of the UN Global Compact competition "Partnership for Sustainable Development 2025." 

In 2026, the project also received two Davos Communications Awards: gold in the "Best Sports or Entertainment Campaign" category and silver in the "Best Social Media Campaign" category.

For Betking Foundation, these distinctions represented international recognition of a Ukrainian social initiative that serves as a tool to support children and creates a space for them to communicate, gain new experiences, and dream. 

About Betking Foundation

The Betking Foundation charity, founded by Pavlo Zhurylo and part of King Group, transforms social initiatives into real opportunities for children and young people. The foundation pays special attention to displaced children and those who have lost relatives due to the war, helping them through sports, education, and psychological support. Betking Foundation invests resources in creating a healthy and safe environment for children, helping them develop team spirit, gain new knowledge, and restore emotional balance. The foundation’s social mission is to create opportunities for the harmonious development and social adaptation of the younger generation.