"UEFA EURO 2012 is the beginning, not the end"
Yaroslav Hrybalskyy is the chairman of t...
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Nothing compares to being there live
Published on 12 June 2012
NAME: Sergey Rozhentsov
COUNTRY: Ukraine
I SUPPORT: Dynamo Kiev
Football has always played a huge role in my life. When I was a child, I went to a specialist sports school, where I played competitive football for seven years. By the age of fourteen, I was training less but going to watch my team, Dynamo Kiev, with my friends every week. I also collected photographs of the team that I then put into albums.
After I became disabled, football was almost left behind. I sometimes told myself that I still wanted to go and watch my team again, but I never acted on those words. Earlier this year, the NSC Olympiyskiy arena was reconstructed ahead of UEFA EURO 2012, where the final will be played. In the past, Dynamo Kiev played their European matches at the stadium, and now we would be able to return home once again.
After winter had passed, a friend of mine asked whether I wanted to go along to watch a match at the stadium with him. I was quite nervous but once I was there, I couldn’t put my feelings into words. I hadn’t been to watch a live match for ten years, and it was wonderful to be back. Just being in the stadium gave me a huge boost of energy, emotion and confidence. Watching football on the television is good, but nothing compares to being there live.
I have been back for another match since then, and will definitely carry on attending as a fan. It is such a thrill to have football back in my life again.
Every donation counts:
€5 will buy a headset so that a blind supporter can receive special audio-described commentary at a live event
€50 will provide 150 access and disability awareness information leaflets for sports clubs
€200 will help disabled people to set up a local disabled fans group – empowering disabled people to work with their clubs to improve access
€500 will train a local volunteer to deliver specialised audio-descriptive commentary to blind fans
€1500 will provide the audio-descriptive commentary equipment for a sports club
€5000 will provide accessible transport to local disabled fans on match days for a whole season
€10,000 will enable a regional match buddy system to be established with volunteers helping disabled fans to attend live sports as companions or match buddies
Please give generously – thanks to you we can make a real difference to many disabled people so they can enjoy football alongside their fellow fans – Access for All.
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