Hi there,
I am father of one Ukrainian hockey boy from Ukrainian Kharkiv Junior team HC Sdyusshor’07 U16.
A day before the invasion of our home country, our team has started its trip to Debrecen in Hungary for a regulator hockey championship. Due to the war conflict children are unable to return to Ukraine , and followed the tournament have been welcomed and are keeping safe in Sanok, Poland. They stuck far from home and nobody knows when they come back to Ukraine, where their families stay in bunkers in Kharkiv trying to keep safe and stay alive.
20 boys and two coaches went in 2 day regular tournament and nobody could imagine that this trip will be on one of way … We are parents of these boys could not imagine that we will not see our children so long and we have no idea when we meet them again in home country, because all Ukraine is in fire and our native city Kharkiv is in ruins.
Not so far, they were just children, junior hockey players who used to go to school, play hockey and be naughty while war did not cover their native city Kharkiv and all home country Ukraine.
It came suddenly in the morning of 24th of Feb, with terrible shelling, which shared life “before” and “after.”
But they are still those Kharkiv boys, junior hockey players who love playing hockey; they just become adults beyond their age…
But we see in them our future strong and free-spirited Ukrainian nation, which is borning now through the fire.
Our children - our future! We believe in Peace and Freedom.