“In the future I would like to become an international football star; I train hard as my career depends upon it”, says Matas, who is attending football classes organised by Hope for Football. This social initiative is organising football training classes for children from Kaunas’ foster homes and day care centres. This year the young football team had their first international game: they played Chinese schoolchildren, the participants of international summer school at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU).
Hope for Football was founded four years ago by Stefano Piciulin, who wanted to be socially active in Lithuania the same way he was in his native Italy.
“Children from socially vulnerable families need attention. They need to see that there are people who can take care of them and love them, that interesting activities exist as well as life without bitterness and anger, and, most important of all, without alcohol”, says Piciulin.
Football training classes, according to him, are not only about sport: it is also a healthy lifestyle and a perfect distraction from dangerous activities, such as drugs or unsafe sex.
Sports Encourages International Friendships
The football match between Chinese schoolchildren and Lithuanian children from Kaunas foster homes Pastogė and Gerumo rankos was an exceptional event for all. The game was won by Lithuanians, but friendship between the international competitors crossed the boundaries of the football field.
“Our children got the opportunity to make friends with children from other country, to get to know more about their school and free time, and to see how friendly and warm relationships between people can be. As tokens for remembering the meeting they received T-shirts with their names written in Chinese”, says Laima Čiutaitė, the spokesperson for Hope for Football.
The friendships did not end after the game: Lithuanian children were invited to join other events of KTU’s summer school: digital drawing classes at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, interactive physics classes at KTU’s Pupils’ Laboratory. According to Čiutaitė, the children are now waiting for another exciting international event – a cricket training class with KTU students from India.
Football Classes Offer a Way to Achieve One’s Dreams
Hope for Football collaboration with KTU started two years ago: KTU’s football stadium is their training ground in summer and in winter the young Hope for Football players can train inside at the University’s Sports Centre sporting facilities. KTU’s international students often become coaches for the children attending football classes.
At the moment 10 to 30 children of various ages from 6 Kaunas foster homes and day centres are attending football training classes. For most of them football is a holiday escape, the one that can be taken every Saturday all year long.
“If it was not for football, I would spend all days at the computer”, says Matas, the captain and the goalkeeper at the Hope for Football team. He and his team mate Monika, who is by far not the only girl at the team are dreaming about becoming international football stars and getting to know such celebrities as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Piciulin, the founder and the coach of Hope for Football says that football classes also teach friendship and teamwork: “The children learn to collaborate, to become a team and to respect each other. This is very important for children from foster homes who have harsh life experiences of focusing on survival, not on sharing”.
He says that children from foster homes need to be offered the choice of better life, the hope that there is a way to achieve your dreams.
“One can achieve anything he or she wants, independent from their family background. There are many celebrities, also among famous football players, who grew up without parents or in poor conditions”, says Piciulin.
Hope for Football is encouraging everyone, who would like to help children to achieve their dreams (it is not only football, but also learning languages, drawing, playing music) to volunteer several days a month and to bring meaning both into their own lives and into lives of those in need.
