Ukrainian refugee children have played rugby in Bratislava since March 2022. (source: Facebook)
Ukrainian version | Slovak version
When Russia launched its full scale invasion of his homeland in February last year, Bratislava-based Ukrainian photographer Dmytro Levichev was on the other side of the world working on a reality show in the Dominican Republic.
But his mind was with his countrymen and women and how he and his wife in the Slovak capital could help them.
Two days later, on February 26, 2022, his wife opened their Bratislava home to a family they were friends with who had managed to get out of Ukraine.
One member of the family was a young boy who had been a keen wrestler in Ukraine, and Levichev, now back from the Caribbean, suggested that the boy should try out a different sport – rugby – and took him off for a training session.
“He loved every minute of it,” says Levichev.
“It was then that I realised that this is what I should be doing,” Levichev said, adding that he had long harboured a dream of establishing a rugby club.
And so he did, forming the Ukrainian Kids Rugby Club.
Levichev, who himself played rugby in his homeland for 15 years, winning caps for the national team, already had a World Rugby coaching certificate and got help from other rugby clubs in Slovakia and Austria to set up the club.
Its first training session was in Janko Kráľ Park, a popular Bratislava park by the Danube, in March that year, with a number of Ukrainian children taking part. Levichev says many of the kids who were there that day are still with the club.
Ukrainian Kids Rugby Club was founded in March 2022 in Bratislava. (source: Facebook)
Sport for everyone
Levichev says rugby is a sport for everyone, and he believes the game can help shape a person. He gives himself as an example.
“The sport has transformed me completely,” he says, explaining that he became stronger, both physically and mentally, once he began playing it.
He adds that at amateur and children’s level it is also about family and support – as well as humour. He smiles as he shares a joke about rugby as he talks to The Slovak Spectator.
“A game of football is 90 minutes where you have to pretend you’re in pain. A game of rugby is 80 minutes where you have to pretend you’re not in pain,” he says.
There are currently around 60 children playing at the club, divided into four different age groups.
He explains that as a coach his main aim in both training sessions and actual games is for the kids involved to have fun.
“The most important thing for me is their smiles. Of course, the taste of victory is pleasant, but the taste of a good game is even more pleasant,” he says.
Although most of the children playing at the club are Ukrainian, there are also a small number of Slovak and French kids who play too.
Levichev says that they all get along well, even off the pitch, and language seems to be no barrier.
He says he prefers to use Slovak in training sessions anyway, only speaking Ukrainian if there are no Slovak children involved.
“We must not forget that we are in Slovakia, and it is very useful for children to learn the language,” Levichev says.
His efforts have been embraced by other rugby clubs, both in Slovakia and abroad. Slovan, a Bratislava rugby club, have given them support, and Vienna Celtic, an Austrian rugby club, let the kids from Levichev’s club join them at a training camp for free.
Meanwhile, an Italian friend of Levichev, Danilo Grillo, offered the children the chance to play in Sicily, inviting them over and arranging for their stay, games and training sessions. Their flights were paid in part by Vienna Celtic.
“Local Italian families welcomed lots of Ukrainian children into their homes. It was incredible,” says Levichev. “On the last day of our stay, the entire village where they stayed organised a farewell dinner with about 200 people gathering for it.”
All this was possible thanks to the rugby community, Levichev points out. He has a mantra that he always tells children: “Whatever country you go to, go to the local rugby club – you will always find support there.”
Ukrainian refugee children play rugby in Italy. (source: Facebook)
Club will go on, no matter what
When the photographer moved to Slovakia for work in 2016, one of the first things he did after relocating was to follow the same mantra he had told the children at his club about.
“I immediately checked whether there were any rugby teams in Bratislava, and then wrote to them. They all wrote back to me,” he recalls.
He enjoyed his time with the local rugby community, but for now is focusing on the children’s rugby club. He would like to get the children into international competitions, but admits finances are proving a hurdle to this.
“You have to show that you have players and money for the year ahead. Maybe we will join with Slovak rugby clubs,” he says, adding they would also need to have more training sessions per week and more coaches.
But he refuses to give up.
“Even if there is no funding at all, we will not cease to exist. I will not stop this project,” he says.
This story was published with support from the International Press Institute's Ukraine regional reporting fund.
