Stange visit brings joy to Belarusian children
Thursday, July 7, 2011
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Children's "eyes were shining with joy" at the Minsk orphanage that was visited by Belarus head coach Bernd Stange and other football ambassadors on UEFA Grassroots Day.
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Belarus coach Bernd Stange headed a delegation that visited an orphanage for sick children as part of the activities marking UEFA Grassroots Day in the eastern European country.
Stange led a group of football ambassadors who called in at the school in the Belarusian capital Minsk and gave skills coaching to the children present. He was joined by men's and women's national youth team coaches as well as Sergei Safaryan, first vice-president of the Football Federation of Belarus (BFF).
The visit was just one example of the UEFA Grassroots Day events held across Belarus on 25 May, when the UEFA Champions Festival in Hyde Park provided the centrepiece for Europe-wide celebrations.
School director Elena Rogovtseva said of the occasion: "It is very important for the children to feel attention and to know they are not forgotten. Today I saw some little girls that had never touched a ball before – they hadn't wanted to try before, but the spirit of the day was so great that they started to run and play. Their eyes were shining with joy, that's the most important thing."
Coach Stange, 63, has guided Belarus to second place in Group D of UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying.
