FC Minaj, a champion under-16 boys soccer team from Ukraine, arrived last week at University of Northwestern in Roseville to stay in dorms and train for the tournament.
“This is the best present from God because you can come to the USA to see so many teams and the quality and what is best in America: fields and everything,” said coach Rudy Balazhynets, who is also a minister and a charitable fundraiser for missions in his home country.
“You represent Ukraine, you represent your country, represent your flag and it’s an honor to be in the USA and to be with the Ukraine flag, and especially in war time and especially with the attention around Ukraine,” he said. “Of course, this is more than just soccer.”
Balazhynets hopes to forge connections with Americans and others to continue to help provide support for those displaced or victimized by Russia’s on-going siege of the country.
“People…are dying because they didn’t have food,” he said. “It’s not about war—they’re dying because no food, no water.”
He also said this is a welcome escape for his teenaged players, who will spend a total of nearly three weeks in the U.S. with sightseeing planned after the tournament wraps up.
“For all of us, it’s a time about healing,” Balazhynets said. “Every hour, you have an air attack signal, you need to hide. So, the war has changed and made in us a big trauma, and the trauma has been going for many years.”
He said the kids need to be able to know that a better world is possible.
“We know that the attention on Ukraine is going down, this is why we’re here. We want to talk about what is true in the world. And they are needed for the future,” he said.
