Inter Campus in Ukraine with Scort Foundation

KIEV – Learning and fun. Those were the two main ingredients during the week Inter Campus spent at Shakhtar Donetsk's temporary academy centre in Shchaslyve, a few miles outside Kiev.

Inter Campus were invited to this tiny village (whose name means 'happy') by the Scort Foundation to help train 39 coaches from Eastern Ukraine, an area afflicted by armed conflict since in 2014.

Through the Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA) and its Young Coach Education Programme, since 2007 the Scort Foundation has organised free training courses for around 430 coaches and educators in disadvantaged areas around the world.

According to UNHCR estimates, the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine has forced over 1.7 million people to move from their homes to other parts of the country. With no solution to the conflict envisaged in the near future, these internally displaced people have to integrate into their host communities as quickly as possible. Traumatised children must be provided with regular activities and psychosocial support – and football plays a big part in the rehabilitation process.

The programme Inter Campus took part in – bringing its expertise and methods – will involve a total of 165 young coaches who will, in turn, put the teachings into practice with approximately 7800 Ukrainian kids.

Besides our work on the field, we also enjoyed a fruitful exchange of ideas with coaches from Basel, Legia Warsaw and Shakhtar Donetsk, acquiring fresh notions that our own coaches and children will be able to benefit from. As Scort CEO Marc Buchwalder explained during the courses, everyone wins when you work as a T.E.A.M. (Together Each Achieves More).