Ukrainian children wounded by war find joy and friendship at a Knights of Columbus athletics tournament

By Solomiia Karpiv

10/12/2024

Source

Fifty-five young athletes lined up to compete at one of Ukraine’s top sports stadiums Oct. 5 in Ivano-Frankivsk. After a moment of silence in honor of fallen defenders in the Russian-Ukrainian war and the singing of Ukraine’s national anthem, Father Yurii Fedorchak addressed the group.

“Our modern knights do not wear armor, but they are with you, they care about your future, our homeland and our families,” Father Fedorchak, chaplain of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Council 15804 in Ivano-Frankivsk, told the children. “We are organizing this wonderful tournament today not to instigate competition among you, but to help you get to know one another and enjoy a great time together. May the Lord help you peacefully hold these competitions.”

With that, the Knights of Columbus Cup — an athletics event hosted annually by Council 15804 — began.

Knights in Ivano-Frankivsk have held the children’s competition for four years, but it has assumed greater significance since the war began in 2022.

“There are no ordinary children here,” explained State Treasurer Myroslav Mazur, a member of Council 15804. “This year we have … children uprooted from their hometown, environment, schools. They have been beaten by life and had few happy moments.”

Many of this year’s competitors were from internally displaced families who are staying in shelters in Ivano-Frankivsk or children served by the Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children in Medynia, about 20 miles northwest of the city. The Knights hoped that the event would bring a small but significant measure of hope into their lives.

Seminarians from Holy Martyr Josaphat Ivano-Frankivsk Theological Seminary helped organize the children into five teams with creative names they devised themselves: Thunder, Chamomile, Knighthood, Trash and Lightning.

As the children ran relays, competed in sack races and played other games, Olena Polous was one of the loudest voices in the stands, cheering on her daughter, Kateryna, and the other young athletes with shouts of “Well done! Keep going!”

Olena and 8-year-old Kateryna lived in Kharkiv when Russia invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022. They initially moved to a nearby village, but after spending a night in the basement due to shelling, Olena resolved to find somewhere safer.

“If I were alone, I might have stayed, but I needed to think about my daughter’s safety,” she said.

Mother and daughter boarded the first train at the station without a clear destination in mind. When they arrived in the relative safety of Ivano-Frankivsk, Olena burst into tears.

Watching her daughter compete in the Knights of Columbus Cup, Olena expressed her gratitude for the Knights’ efforts to help children escape oppressive thoughts of war.

“I see how my daughter connects with other children, filled with new experiences and choosing not to remember the past,” she said. “I want children to have a real childhood, one where they remember only the best moments, not what they endured.”

The tournament culminated in a joyful ceremony in which all the children received trophies, certificates and gifts, followed by a meal.

“I’m in a good mood, even though we lost the relay race. I’m excited to get a prize now!” said Kateryna.

Her friend from the shelter, 10-year-old Zlata Olkhovska, added, “I most liked carrying the ball on the racket and jumping in the sacks. I’m happy to spend time with my friends and make new ones here. To others my age I’d like to say: Live in the moment — we only have one life.”

“They compete, rejoice, cheer, lose and cry, but in the end, they are all happy,” said Mazur, who initiated the Knights of Columbus Cup. “They are already asking us to invite them back next year.”

Roman Semianchuk, a district deputy and past grand knight of Council 15804, is motivated to continue organizing the Cup in the years ahead.

“Those emotions on the faces of the children are worth it,” he said.

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SOLOMIIA KARPIV writes from Lviv, Ukraine.