In Vinnytsia region, the daughter of a fallen defender founded a sports club in memory of her father

Victoria Koval is the daughter of a fallen soldier. In memory of her father, she and her husband, professional Greco-Roman wrestling coach Oleh Koval, decided to start their own business - to create a sports club for children in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, UNN reports, citing the MHP-Gromadі charity fund.

Details

The history of the project began with a desire to remember his father, his strength of spirit, and courage, Koval recalls.

Almost two years have passed since he was killed in the Kherson sector. For 11 months we hoped he was still alive, but it was not to be. Last July, my father was buried. After that, we decided to dedicate a good cause to him

The project was launched thanks to the grant competition "Support for Microenterprise of Veterans and Their Families: From Idea to Implementation in Vinnytsia Region," in which the Koval family won. They have already begun to implement the idea: they have renovated the classroom and purchased sports equipment with grant funds (about UAH 100,000). The club was named Olympus, and it is already working.

"First of all, it's a family affair: my husband's father has trained several generations of Greco-Roman wrestling athletes. And there are simply no offers of this level of skill in our city.

Secondly, my husband and I are teachers and use modern pedagogical technologies, which brings high sports results at the regional, Ukrainian and international championships.

Thirdly, children can spend time after school, which is very important for working parents. We hold classes in a shelter, so the risks during an air raid are minimal.

And finally, the club becomes an element of psychological recovery. Here, during training, athletes not only forget about the hardships associated with the war, but also prepare for international competitions, dreaming about the future," she said.

Koval also spoke about the business component of the Olympus project.

"We conducted a survey of the target audience to determine their needs, reasonable prices for services, and convenient training formats. Currently, 3 groups of 10 children of different ages attend training on a regular basis with monthly subscriptions. We will launch 3 more groups in the near future. We have also introduced a system of individual training.

Thanks to the quality of our offer, word of mouth, and coverage of our activities on Instagram and TikTok, the news about the club quickly spread around the city. The demand for training is actively growing. But we are ready for it, because the plan was ambitious: to cover several hundred local children aged 5 to 18 with our services.

In the future, we plan to rent more space and open additional training groups involving other sports and creating new jobs," Koval says.

Help

The project is being implemented by the Social Center of Vinnytsia Oblast in cooperation with the Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans within the framework of the VARTO+GO initiative with the support of the MHP-Gromadі Charitable Foundation, which is implementing a reintegration and rehabilitation program for MHP's defenders.

Help

MHP-Gromadі is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that started its operations in 2015. Its main mission is the comprehensive development of communities. The geography of its activities includes 12 regions of Ukraine: more than 700 towns and villages. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has been systematically supporting people in the war zone, Ukrainian defenders and rescuers, communities, hospitals and maternity homes, charitable institutions that care for orphans and the elderly, as well as people who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the war.