The power of children’s sport: business, motivation and support for future champions
1 October 2024 17:52
SPECPROJECT
Children’s sport is a relevant topic at any time, especially in times of war. Despite the hostilities in our country, Ukraine continues to conquer the Olympic Games, and children continue to train and set new records. Given the social significance of the topic and the significant business component, the [Kommersant] magazine held a special media project called “Children’s Sport: a business that is impossible without..”, featuring Vadym Drobashko, a sports marketer, until recently a development consultant for FC Oleksandriya and owner of the Shakhtar Football School franchise, Olena Gulyamova, a professional basketball player, entrepreneur and mother of four, and Oleksiy Trofimov, a Ukrainian professional boxer, winner of the 1999 World Amateur Championship, multiple Ukrainian champion, coach and founder of the Oleksiy Trofimov Boxing School, oleksii Martynenko, head of the private sports school “Academy of Sports A” of the educational network A, professional swimmer, international competition winner, Olympian, coach Serhii Frolov, gymnast, coach, Olympic bronze medallist, anna Rizatdinova, owner of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy in Kyiv, Vlad Sotnikov, producer of the Maestro football club, and Anatolii Polkovnikov, development director of the Maestro football club and the Maestro children’s football academy.
All of them shared their experience, spoke about the importance of children’s sports and their motivation in this matter.
Iryna Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian high jumper and bronze medallist at the 2024 Olympic Games, also recorded a video greeting.
“If people unite around a child who wants to win, they will definitely achieve it. (…) sport is not just about winning, sport is about building character, about achieving goals, about overcoming setbacks and obstacles. In sports, when a child does not win one competition, but then gets up, rises and confidently steps into another, it means that in the future life he or she will also easily live through difficult situations,” Iryna Gerashchenko believes
At the beginning of the event, Jean Belenyuk, a Ukrainian athlete and politician, Olympic champion, multiple world and European champion, also made a video greeting. He expressed his gratitude to the responsible businesses that support children’s sports in Ukraine.
“This is a strategically important area in the life of the state. I believe that children’s sport is very important for our country, of course, times are difficult now, but we must preserve this area for our future generations and do everything in our power to ensure that children involved in sports see a future in our country and can realise themselves,” said Jean Beleniuk
I make rhythmic gymnastics more positive, – Rizatdinova
Anna Rizatdinova, a gymnast, coach, Olympic bronze medallist, and owner of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy in Kyiv, who participated in the event on behalf of 
, shared her motivation for opening her own children’s sports academy.
“When I came to gymnastics for the first time, the coach looked at me and said that I was not suitable for this sport at all: my weight was wrong, my legs were wrong, etc. It was a lifelong injury. Back then, at the age of 5, I could not imagine that this would be my motivation to open my own academy 20 years later and create everything the other way round. Not like I had in my childhood,” said Anna Rizatdinova.
She noted that it is very important for all athletes not to lose themselves after reaching sporting heights. The athlete decided to open the academy as her way of self-realisation.
“It’s very important for an athlete not to get lost in life, especially after an Olympic medal. I started going to master classes and realised that I didn’t want to pass on my experience abroad, but wanted to share it with Ukrainians. Rhythmic gymnastics is a very graceful sport on the one hand, and a cruel one on the other. And I wanted to change this and show how and what to do so that girls aged 3-4 would want to go to gymnastics, so that they would not be hurt during stretches, so that they would not be told “you are not beautiful”, etc. I wanted to make rhythmic gymnastics more positive. And I am doing it,” she stressed.
Sport is the foundation of life
In his turn, Oleksiy Martynenko, head of the private sports school “Academy of Sports A” of the educational network A, who is not an athlete but manages more than 10 sports areas, stressed the importance of sports for all children, even those who do not plan to become professional athletes in the future.
“Sport is a secret weapon that is always with you. The path of an athlete after they finish sports is a very important topic. Because not every child ends up becoming an athlete, but sport is a foundation that helps them a lot in life and becomes their secret weapon. Sport is the core and discipline that is needed in business, family life and work,” says Oleksiy Martynenko
Maestro Children’s Academy is about sports and patriotism
Vlad Sotnikov, producer of the Maestro football club, and Anatoliy Polkovnikov, development director of the Maestro football club and the Maestro children’s football academy, said that the sports academy is not just about sports for their students.
“For us, the children’s academy was very clear, because it is not only about sports education, it is also a patriotic component. And this project coexists with several of our parallel projects involving veterans. And they help educate children not only in a sporting way but also in a patriotic way,” they said
FC Maestro noted that sport is currently going through very difficult times, as esports is coming to the heels of traditional sports.
“Esports is treading on the toes of five traditional sports, it already has a higher capitalisation than traditional sports, which are now actually surviving. They can only exist either through government programmes, or with the support of sponsors, or through some creative ideas. In our project, we are trying to use the power of the brand. “Maestro is based on opinion leaders, influencers, and stars,” said Anatolii Polkovnikov, Development Director of the Maestro Football Club of Pop and Film Stars and the Maestro Children’s Football Academy
He stressed that their football club is trying to balance in the modern world to stay afloat.
“We have issued a cryptocurrency, it is being tested. Its main goal is to raise funds for charity,” he summed up.
Don’t let students make my mistakes, says Olympian Frolov
Sergey Frolov, who reached the 800-metre freestyle final at the Tokyo Olympics, has had a difficult career as an athlete. However, in his role as a mentor, he strives to show children that they need to start with a goal, no matter how small. Frolov recalls his father’s guidance and his first goal of becoming a master of sports in swimming.
During the discussion of the special project “Children’s Sports: A Business that is Not Possible Without…”, he admits that he did not think it would be so difficult. There were ups and downs that I wish no one else would repeat.
“At the most crucial moments of my development as an athlete, I had to move on to other coaches. Someone couldn’t continue due to family reasons and it was a very big blow. Changing a coach or training plan can have a negative impact on an athlete. There is also a financial component: when the state does not help enough, someone has to pay for the athlete’s development. And it is most often the parents,” said Serhii Frolov
Frolov says that when he became a multiple European champion and world championship winner, he had a choice: either to continue or to look for himself elsewhere.
“I opened a sports club with my own money, which I had collected during my sports career. I recruited a team I know and trust, and we started working. We are currently creating new projects. It is important that students do not repeat my mistakes, so that my experience is useful,” the Olympian said.
The war dictates new challenges, so now, the swimmer says, they have created a new project to rehabilitate the military in need of help. The goal is to help the military recover, to involve them in various competitions and events, concludes Frolov.
Don’t be afraid to start from scratch for children, – footballer Drobashko
Vadym Drobashko, a footballer and owner of the Shakhtar Football School franchise, is convinced that running a football school is not just about business. Despite the fact that the war has repeatedly destroyed his plans and childhood dreams, Drobashko did not give up.
“After the full-scale invasion, I could have said, ‘Stop, I’m out of business. There is a war going on, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. However, we have such a region that we are going to the end,” said Vadym Drobashko
Vadym Drobashko, who is originally from Khartsyzsk, Donetsk region, created the eponymous football club Khartsyzsk before the war. Later, he developed grassroots football as part of the Shakhtar football club. As part of the Let’s Play project, children who did not have the opportunity to train in children’s sports schools or football academies could play football anywhere. However, the 2014 war brought this project to a halt. It was the first blow to his business and dreams, says Drobashko.
In 2020, he started developing his brand with a franchise from FC Shakhtar.
“We opened 5 schools and went to open new ones in our small homeland: to Kramatorsk, to Mariupol, where we agreed to lease a sports complex. When all the contracts were at the final stage, 24 February wiped out my entire business, in which I had invested $140,000. And it was all completely destroyed. It was even harder to realise that 2 children who were studying at our school died during the evacuation from Bucha. We did not know what to do,” said Vadym Drobashko
The Russians were “having fun” in the children’s academy in Bucha: they placed balls and simply smashed them from 40 metres away. Drobashko recalls what he saw after returning to Kyiv region. Despite all this, Drobashko and his team continued to grow the business, including opening a location in Poltava, where more than 70 children are currently training.
My wards are already champions of Ukraine, – boxer Trofimov
Boxer Oleksiy Trofimov shares his motivation when he passes on his experience to children. Having been in boxing since he was 12 years old and having gone from children’s sports in his native Sevastopol to professional boxing, he decided to train children and even entered the All-Ukrainian competition with a children’s youth sports school. However, after the annexation of Crimea, he had to move to Kyiv and start all over again.
“Why coaching? When you are an athlete and have a lot of attention, then there comes a moment of silence. I wanted to open my own school and, most importantly, to make children fall in love with sports. After the full-scale invasion, I set up the Trofimov school again. I started with 2-3 children. Now these boys are already champions of Ukraine among young men,” said Oleksiy Trofimov
Trofimov summarises: there are now 2 halls in the capital. And if in 2022-2023 there were 50-60 participants in the Kyiv city championship, now it is more than one and a half hundred. The boxer is convinced that in business, it is important to cooperate with yourself and not to give up under any circumstances.
Children need a choice, says basketball player Gulyamova
Children should have a chance to make choices and express their will, says professional basketball player, entrepreneur and mother of four Elena Gulyamova. The golden rule at home is that everyone should do sports three times a week, no matter what kind.
“Sport is a thrill, it’s fun, it’s about emotions that you can’t find anywhere, you can’t find them on a computer, you can’t find them on the Internet. Sport is about friendship, about sharing, even if you have the last piece of bread,” said Olena Gulyamova
The basketball player knows from her own experience what it was like for young ambitious athletes without sponsors, how to live on their last penny and still develop.
“I really believe that sponsors will look at sports differently. Not from the point of view of profit, which should be. Super return is not when a sponsor gives money and waits for a star to grow up and give back the 15-20 thousand dollars they have invested in them. Children’s sport is an idea,” she believes.
The basketball player also plans to open an academy and already knows its name.
“It will definitely be called Budivelnyk. I hope that in the next 5 years there is such a prospect. I will be grateful for any support in any field,” said Olena Gulyamova
Gulyamova promises to share the construction plan and believes in the sporting future of Ukraine. And it certainly does. Ukraine has a significant place in global sport, having achieved numerous successes and won gold at the Olympic Games.
