Artyomovsk, Russia - A friendly football match on the theme “Play Football Make Peace” was initiated by UPF-Urals in Artyomovsk, Sverdlovsk region on June 10. Among the participants were teenagers of three teams: the sports club “Patriot” from Artyomovsk (coached by V.K. Karpov); the field sports club “Olympus” from Mostovskoye village (coached by S.A. Shipachov); and a team from Pokrovskoye village (coached by Yu.V. Chikhalov).
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Before the match, the leader of UPF-Urals, Natalya Erofeeva, and Youth Ambassador for Peace and assistant coordinator of the Baikal volunteer ecological project, Ralif Galiyev, addressed the participants and guests. They spoke about the history of the project “Play Football Make Peace,” explained the goals and objectives of this peace initiative, and called upon participants to stick to the rules of honor and conscience both in football-field and in everyday life. Finally, players and coaches signed the Moral Values Memorandum of the tournament, which included a commitment to a healthy lifestyle, strengthening will-power, self-discipline, and athletic skills; and promoting volunteerism and a culture of peace.
The Patriot club was the winner; the Olympus club was the second; and the Pokrovskoye team was the third. The boys of the Patriot club showed a perfect example of team cohesion, demonstrating good teamwork, respect for their partners, and absolute confidence in their victory. The sympathy prize was unanimously granted to the youngest player, a ten-year-old boy from Sukhoy Log. He demonstrated high-level skills and a noble attitude. For some good reason, the Olympus club was lacking a player, and the boy from the Patriot club consented to play on the Olympus team. It should be mentioned that the young football player didn’t play for the benefit of his own team; with all his efforts he honestly strove for the victory of Olympus. After the match there was a tea party during which children of different teams could communicate and make friends.