Ukrainian boys’ team stranded in Poland without money
It is not in the morning, and it is time for the first training session in the ice hockey facility in Sanok, in eastern Poland.
19 boys aged 14-15 fly over the ice. It goes away when Sdyshor 2007 from Kharkiv trains.
Coach Igor Visnievsky has instructions:
– Be more accurate in your passes!
He blows the whistle:
– Misha! The other side!
He did not proudly approach TV 2: “They are very responsive”.
Trying to find normality
The coach tries to make the days as normal as possible for his boys.
– Their parents seek refuge in basements, their homes are bombed. I think it is very important that they do something that gets the mind away from it all, he says.
But the coach’s strategy just works that way.
– It does not help to distract me, says 14-year-old Nazar Kononenko when asked if the hockey training helps.
– My parents are sitting in the shelter, they have not left it for several days. My father and grandfather are fighting in the territorial defense, they are defending their city.
– Yes, I am constantly worried about them, and my thoughts are with them all the time, goalkeeper Mikhail Naboychenko says.
Was on my way to the tournament
The boys were on their way to a tournament in Hungary when Russia invaded Ukraine on the morning of February 24.
– We left at 5 pm in the afternoon the day before. Everyone was in a good mood. At five in the morning was woken by the phone rang. Then Kharkiv was hit by artillery fire, says Igor.
He still has to take a break when he tells. Get together.
– We met military vehicles that went in the opposite direction as us, towards Kharkiv. With so many children on the bus, it was clear to us that we had to get them as far away as possible.
They crossed the border into Poland, and drove on to Debrecen in Hungary, where the tournament was held.
– We asked them if they would still play the tournament. De sa ja. With that, they wanted to show their families that they were well, and that everything will work out, says Igor.
Although the war raged in Ukraine, in 2007 Sdyshor won all six of its matches.
Worried about his family
The boys are now in Poland, while their family is stuck in the war almost 1,200 kilometers away.
With about 2.8 million inhabitants, Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second largest city. Here the fighting has stopped, and the Russians have bombed the city from the air.
Several dozen people are said to have been killed and several hundred injured. In addition, Kharkiv has suffered major material damage.
– It’s awful. I’m afraid they will hit the house or the sports hall, says Mikhail.
Coach Igor is also worried. He also has family in Kharkiv, and is afraid for their safety.
In addition, the 32-year-old is trying to take care of 19 rescued teenagers.
– I have known these boys since they were five and six years old. I was the one who put skates on their feet, he says.
– I’ll never let them down.
The boys say that what they are now up to, has led to an even stronger unity in the team.
– We are worried about each other and ask each other how it goes, says Danila Andreijetskiuy.
He plays with suit number 16 on his back.
– My team is the most important thing for me. I am part of a team, it is my second family, says the 15-year-old.
Lines up
2000 kilometers away, the history of Sdyshor 2007 makes a strong impression on another hockey team.
The Norwegian league champions Stavanger Oilers got to hear about the stranded teenagers through a contact in the hockey community, and immediately decided to do something.
– We were encouraged to start a fundraising and wanted to make it a little bigger than that, says Oilers owner Tore Christiansen.
– The first thing we did to get started quickly was to send a huge advance down to them. Then we start a campaign now to raise more money than we have already sent.
The Oilers have already sent 100,000 kroner down to Poland. Among other things, it has agreed to provide hotel rooms, secure access to the ice rink and arrange SIM cards for the boys.
Costume auction
Now the league champions to be able to send even more.
– We will take the used suits that we became league champions in, and which we will also use in parts of the playoffs, and auction them off for the highest possible price. Every penny will go to help this team, Christiansen says.
And when the old suits are auctioned off, the Oilers have to print new ones.
Before Saturday’s match against Vålerenga, the new suits received a special Oilers logo, in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
– Great logo and it is for an even better purpose, so we will be proud to wear this suit, says Oilers player Henrik Holm when he sees the finished result.
When the Oilers took on Våleranga at the DNBA arena in Stavanger, the players sat on Sdyshor 2007 and watched on a screen in Poland.
– We use this as a motivating factor. We see what they are going through down there and the unpredictability they live with. We get to appreciate our situation here and give the iron to help them to have a good everyday life in the weeks ahead, says vice captain Tommy Kristiansen.
Teammate Holm agrees, and feels humbled to be able to play for the war-affected boys.
– It’s incredibly cool, you feel you get a little relationship with those downstairs. They get a little positive breath in a tough everyday life, so it’s very cool that they want to see our match.
Grateful
That a team unknown to them from Norway will help, warm the team from Kharkiv.
– We have an expression in the hockey community that the hockey fraternity is more valuable than wealth. Because no matter where you are, we do not fail each other, says coach Igor Visnievsky.
– Have you heard of Stavanger before?
– He-he, no, I did not have it. But I’m doing it now. We will follow and support this team in the future, he concludes.