We are doing everything in our power to ensure that children of our community go in for sports and develop physically - Mayor of Brovary

More than ten thousand boys and girls attend various sections in the Brovary community, regularly participate in various regional, national and international competitions, and return with victories and prizes. The mayor of Brovary, Ihor Sapozhko, told UNN how the community manages to support and develop children's and youth sports in this difficult time.

Details

"Currently, our community has the only wushu and martial arts school for children and youth in Europe, a sports school of the city department of physical education and sports, a sports school of the city department of education and science, and the Brovary football club. In addition, there are various private sections and sports groups. Boys and girls have the opportunity to choose the sport they like and want to associate their life achievements with. They can practice various martial arts, including horting, a modern martial art created in Ukraine. We also have sections for track and field, fencing, basketball, handball, football, boxing, powerlifting, chess, table tennis, swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, and cross-country skiing.

Of course, due to the full-scale Russian invasion, some children and their parents left for other regions of Ukraine or abroad. There are some who have returned. In general, we can say that more than ten thousand children are involved in mass sports in the community. It is important that there are many children who have moved from the occupied and frontline territories.

This year, among our young athletes, we have winners and prize-winners of various competitions in wushu, horticulture, chess and other sports," said Igor Sapozhko.

In the first months of the full-scale Russian aggression, many issues, including children's sports, fell by the wayside. However, according to the mayor of Brovary, they managed to retain the coaching staff in sports schools, maintain the existing sports infrastructure at the proper level, allocate funds for children's participation in competitions, and attract sponsors.

"We do our best to ensure that boys and girls in the Brovary community have the opportunity to play various sports and develop physically, and to make their parents and coaches happy with their victories. We want new sports sections to appear and be attended by as many children as possible," added Igor Sapozhko.

Recall

Oleg Chukanov, the founder of the only wushu and martial arts school for children and youth in Europe, which operates in Brovary, and president of the National Ukrainian Wushu Federation, said in a commentary to UNN that the authorities in the Brovary community support children's sports. "It is especially important now to involve as many children as possible in sports.

"Even in this difficult time, it is necessary to involve children in sports and thus support them. After all, many children, like adults, can also be somewhat depressed because they see what is happening around them. So it's not just training, it's talking, psychological support. We need to inspire optimism in children, to show them that we are all working to win this war.

Of course, at this time we have full support from the Brovary authorities and the mayor, Igor Sapozhko. He is aware of all aspects of the school's activities, is always interested in problematic issues and contributes to their prompt resolution, and listens to our suggestions. He is interested in our sports achievements. We have a full understanding with the city authorities, and this gives the appropriate result. In this difficult time, it would be difficult for us without such support," Oleg Chukanov told .

For his part, Georgiy Mazurashu, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports, said that in communities where local authorities understand the importance of sports education and child health, they allocate enough funds for these purposes.

"Children's and youth sports are mainly developed at the expense of local authorities. In principle, it was impossible to say that enough funds were allocated to this system during the entire period of independence. But over the years, it has probably become too dependent on the capacity of communities and the mood of local leaders. Accordingly, even at this time, children's and youth sports are well funded in some communities. In some places, new sports schools, clubs, classes, and so on are being opened. And somewhere, on the contrary, they are forced to close them, because they cannot create even more or less decent conditions for the mass involvement of children and adolescents in sports," the MP said in a comment to UNN.