Ilsur Metshin at the “Hockey for everyone” charity match: “Let that be a good tradition”

A “Hockey for everyone” charity match took place at the Tatneft Arena in Kazan. Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin, the Kontinental Hockey League and Night Hockey League teams, as well as representatives of the Kazan Diocese and the Muslims Spiritual Administration of Tatarstan took part in the event together with children with disordered motor functions.

“This match is very emotional, let this be a good tradition, - said Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan. – I thank the organizers of the match for the attention to children who want to be among us and want to play sports”.

The Meteor team, captained by Anastasia Shagalina, and Vimpel team, led by Anastasia Berdnikova, met on the ice. The teams played two periods of 20 minutes each. They consisted of 5 girls and 17 boys. Their mentors were the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, Olympic champion Sergei Shepelyov, three players of the Ak Bars hockey club - Alexander Burmistrov, Dmitry Yudin and Daniil Zhuravlyov, as well as players of Lokomotiv, Neftekhimik and Severstal hockey clubs, who are participants of the tournament.

“This match gives unforgettable emotions, - said Ak Bars forward Alexander Burmistrov. – It is important for us that the children are happy. It is their special day, their holiday, so we will do our best to make them want to continue playing sports after this match.”

The match was active, and the winning team was not determined until the last minute. The game ended with a score of 7:7. “Friendship won”, - the spectators and the parents of the children exclaimed.

After the end of the game, all participants were awarded with prizes and took pictures with their sport idols. The Mayor of Kazan and professional hockey players wished sporting success to children.

“Since last year, we have started paying special attention to sports activities for people with disabilities, - said Albert Salikhov, Chair of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports. – We allocate time slots to people with disabilities at almost every sports venue. This match is a contribution to the future development of sledge hockey in the city. To date, three teams have been formed in Kazan, and in the future, we want to pass the torch to Nizhnekamsk. Such events are the best example of the development of adaptive sports in the republic”. According to A.Salikhov, the children played with professional athletes for the first time, and this motivates them to play sports.

The partners of the event are HC Ak Bars, the Hockey Federation of the republic of Tatarstan and the charity foundation “Day of Good Deeds”. The project was established in 2018, since that time more than 100 children took part in it.

An important continuation of this work was the creation of the Center for the Development of Adaptive Sports of Tatarstan, on the basis of which the Ak Bars Sledge children's sledge hockey team was formed.