Consortium of Life Champions successfully held 6 regional info days between March 15 and April 25, talking directly with more than 500 coaches, boys and girls – football players, and parents about the concept, messages and plans for the future.

Info days were held in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro, showing that the region is open to messages of cooperation, mutual understanding, tolerance, fair play, gender equality, fight against violence in and around sports, which the concept of life champions puts in the foreground.

That a coach is first and foremost an educator and pedagogue, and that his/her mission is first to create top people – life champions, and only then top athletes – sports champions, is a message that resonated strongly, also thanks to the media support in each of the countries involved. Starting from the official media partner, TV Arena sport to local broadcasters, the media were extremely interested in conveying the messages from the gatherings, and through more than 40 announcements in traditional and social media, messages of the life champions reached almost two hundred thousand people from different age categories.

The info days were attended by representatives of clubs’ administration, local self-governments, as well as relevant ministries, and it can rightly be concluded that they activated the community in the best possible way, putting in the foreground some positive values and optimistic stories about regional connection and socializing, learning and progress.

Each of the info days had its own formal host – the logistics coordinator of the meeting, and the consortium proudly highlights active contribution of RFK Grafičar (Serbia), FK Željezničar and FK Sloga Doboj (Bosnia and Herzegovina), HNK Gorica (Croatia), ŽFK Borec Veles (Macedonia) and FC Breznica (Montenegro), who showed that, in addition to top results, they are also interested in dedicated community action, primarily in the promotion of positive values and the creation of a more tolerant and developed society in and through sports. The organizational commitment has been also shown by DEKI5 camp and Pandev Academy, which will host an additional info day in Strumica in June 2023, so that the messages reach as many coaches, children and parents as possible. All along the process, consortium has been accompanied by representatives of the research and expert team, showing that they think and act as one, and by their own example emphasizing that the creation of top people is a multi-sector task which in this particular case was approached jointly by the sports, education and youth sectors.

In the end, consortium also points out that the info days that were implemented caused calls from a number of other sports structures (“snowball” effect) to get informed and join the concept, and at the invitation of the football school Despot from Velika Plana, over 200 children and parents were introduced to the presentation of life champions on April 6, while more than 50 children and coaches will get acquainted with the same at Gale7 children’s football camp, as it has been arranged for June 26 in Bečej. We consider all subsequent activities to be a special added value of the regional info days, and we will try to respond positively to each invitation by further spreading the messages of life champions.

Info days were realized with the support of the UEFA Foundation for Children, with co-financing provided by Development Center for Youth as a coordinator of the consortium.