Photo By Staff Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk | Lt. Col. Kyle Reed (center), commander of the of the U.S. Army's 1st Squadron, 91st...... read more read more
YAVORIV, Ukraine – Two opposing teams line up and stare each other down, both striving for victory, but also maintaining a level of good sportsmanship and camaraderie.
This was the scene in L’viv, Ukraine, May 24, 2015, as U.S. Army paratroopers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade played a game of American flag football versus the L'viv Lions.
The paratroopers are in Ukraine to train the newly-reformed Ukrainian national guard as part of Fearless Guardian, at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, but they’re also taking time to interact with the local Ukrainian community as part of a community-outreach program led by the 173rd Airborne Brigade's civil affairs team.
“The football game served as yet another venue to share the combined story of Fearless Guardian,” said Capt. Kyle Robinson, the Civil Affairs officer with the 173rd Airborne Brigade responsible for setting up the match between the paratroopers and the Lions. “It also provided an opportunity for our paratroopers to reach out to the local community.”
Fearless Guardian is the name for the Congress-approved, Departments of State and Defense initiative under the Global Security Contingency Fund-Ukraine to train and equip the newly reformed Ukrainian national guard. The mission and the program of instruction come at the request of the Ukrainian government.
For the Lions, the game was an exciting opportunity to face-off against a team filled with players who have placed American football since childhood. The Lions, founded in 2012, still consider themselves new to the world of American football despite having already made an impressive name for themselves. In 2013, the first season they competed, they took second place in the Western Division Championship of Ukraine.
“We hope to learn from the Americans since we have been playing professionally for only two years,” said Vlad Kachanov, a linebacker for the Lions. “They [the paratroopers] have been playing this game since they were young.”
The game did not go unnoticed, more than eight local and national news agencies covered the event. Even Pavlo Teslenko, the president of the National Federation of American Football of Ukraine made the drive from Kiev to watch the match.
“We are a relatively small league in Ukraine,” said Teslenko. “To see a match involving the American Soldiers was a large event for us.”
For the paratroopers, the game was a chance to get together and have some fun before returning to Yavoriv to resume training the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian national guard.
“I am glad we were able to come here and play some football,” said Sgt. Jackie Mcknight, the head coach for the paratroopers. “This was a great way to show the Ukrainian team how we play and for us to relax.”
| Date Taken: | 05.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.28.2015 03:08 |
| Story ID: | 164763 |
| Location: | YAVORIV, UA |
| Web Views: | 1,224 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sky Soldiers play football in Ukraine, by SSG Alexander Skripnichuk, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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