BE GOOD AT SPORT: The best gratitude is brightness in the eyes of children, project partners conclude, finalizing the project

Valga Town Government as the lead partner participated in the Estonia-Latvia-Russia cross border cooperation Programme within European Neighborhood and Partnership instrument 2007-2013  sports project „Be good at sport through three countries“. Partners in the project were Valka District Council from Latvia and Novoe Devyatkino from Leningrad Region in Russia.

The Project was aimed at encouraging co-operation between Valga, Valka  and Novoe Devyatkino  volleyball, football and floorball teams, improvement of resource basis, mastering and sharing  the best training practices.  6 International competitions in football, floorball and volleyball were organized so that the young sportsmen could put training theory into practice of playing their favourite sports games. 155 young sportsmen were participating in the project and have received equipment for playing and uniforms for future games (short and long uniforms, balls, sticks, goals and floorball rinks).

So far Russian side had no team for playing floorball and didn`t have so much experience in this game. As floorball is very popular in Estonia and Latvia, the project partners found it interesting to introduce this game to their friends in Russia.

 

 

  

 

  

Each team on the one hand got an opportunity to play at home and on the other hand to visit a partner town and to get knowledge that borders are just in the minds.

After each competition boys got a chance to dive into culture of other country and get information about history, geography and society. Majority of boys never have travelled abroad (Russia, Estonia, Latvia) and during this project they got the first unforgettable experience of travelling. They found out that three countries have many similarities, but differences as well.

This project increased  a wish among the boys to travel more often and discover new countries, as well as to go in for sports. Seeing different cultures enriches young people's world view and helps to set meaningful targets. During those days boys got a possibility to make new friends, communicate with each other and find common language through the sport.

Common feeling of unity was strengthened also by T-shirts with Programme logo and words “friends forever” written in three languages which were presented to the participants of the project.

The project lasted for 18 months from April, 2013 till October, 2014 and used for the benefit of sportsmen of border municipalities project budget in the amount of 220 000 Euro.

Project PORTFOLIO

Information is prepared by Marika Post, Project Manager, Valga Town Government
marika.post@valgalv.ee