Belgrade hosts the Life Champions

After the regional tour which included the presentation of the concept in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro, consortium of the project “Creating Life Champions” held an info day in Belgrade as well.

In front of the crowded hall of the Media Center of FC Red Star, ideas and plans for the next period were presented by consortium members from Serbia – RFK Grafičar (Ranka Mitrović) and Bosnia and Herzegovina – TU Education Center Banja Luka (Božo Marić), led by the coordinator – Development Center for Youth.

While the video material from the previous activities lined up, all those present have been particularly interested in the dynamics of the camps for little ones, but also in the idea of joining girls and creating female life champions, which is currently very actual.

“A dynamic period awaits us – at the end of May, we will organize the first gathering of coaches who work with younger categories, followed by the first camp for children and youth, and then the inclusion of the concept at DEKI5 camp on mountains Divčibare and Zlatibor, when a representative of the UEFA Foundation for Children will join us in order to see first hand all positive sides of the educational-sports model of work that we advocate for. Today’s gathering was also attended by DEKI5 camp representatives, with whom we were united by the idea that sport is much more than physical activity – that it is play, learning, socializing, adopting healthy habits. Now, when we can say that a direct conversation was held with over 500 coaches, parents and children, we are even more convinced of the need for further development of the concept of life champions, which puts in the foreground the coach as a pedagogue and educator, insisting on creating top people, and not only top athletes. Support that comes from the parents is exceptional and it is growing day by day, and we hope that soon we will start involving management of the clubs that are part of the consortium more intensively in planned activities as well. We are constantly thinking about new ways of expanding the concept, and we hope that soon, along with the support from the ERASMUS+ program of the European Union and the UEFA Foundation for Children, we will be able to count on some socially responsible companies, all for the sake of providing additional opportunities for the participants of our activities”, said Aleksandra Knežević, concept coordinator, at the end of the info day.

As every info day offered something new, this time the attendees were presented with various examples of socially responsible actions that a sports team could organize, by Nikola Ristanović, general director of RFK Grafičar, who made his first football steps in this club as well.

With the meeting in Belgrade, the Life Champions consortium has completed its regional informative activities, which are implemented with the support of the UEFA Foundation for Children, and it is preparing for the next activity – Training for coaches and networking, which should bring together 30 sports actors from 8 participating clubs from the region and beyond at the end of May, in order to offer this significant category additional knowledge and skills for daily work with children and youth.