Football club “Ataka” and charity foundation “Help Street Children” will organize the “EIKA Great Vilnius Family Football Tournament” on June 16 at the Pilaitė Football Arena, where not only children, but also their mothers and fathers or even grandparents will test their strength. The tournament, which originated from small regional gatherings, attracts almost 200 participants every year, and there are no losers in it, everyone who participated wins. The author and implementer of the idea, Gediminas Tvarijonas, says that the initiative arose from seeing a significant lack of family sports events.
“In general, we have been organizing family tournaments for the sixth year. Since we work with children, we see that there are still few sports initiatives for families in Vilnius and Lithuania. We started with regional tournaments and saw that not only children are happy to participate in them, but also mothers, fathers, and grandparents, which is why the idea came to organize a larger tournament once a year,” says Gediminas.
According to him, the goal of the tournament is to encourage families to spend as much time together as possible actively, because parents are the most important example for children, especially when it comes to the youngest members of the family. “It’s a great joy for children, and if you also receive gifts or additional prizes, you feel motivated to do sports and experience good emotions. There are no losers in our tournament, so children do not experience unnecessary stress,” says Gediminas.
G. Tvarijonas says that last year he introduced a new rule in the tournament: the whole family plays, but dads cannot score goals. The idea came from observing how dads want to win, so unwillingly overshadowing mom and children. Therefore, it was decided to no longer cause stress for family members and bring even more joy.
“I think it is very important for children to spend as much time with their parents as possible, and if they do it actively, good habits are formed. Children learn from their parents’ example, so a family tournament is a great place to show it. I notice that many mothers and girls, having tried football, are surprised at how fun it is. Girls are starting to attend football classes, which, in my opinion, contributes to increasing gender equality. Personally, the most important thing for me is that children have an effective alternative to smoking, alcohol and drug use as early as possible and grow up healthy. Sport gives them health and strengthens it,” Gediminas shares his thoughts.
G. Tvarijonas has been focusing on early addiction prevention for several years and heads the “Help the Street Children” foundation, which supports 150 children from disadvantaged families. The foundation provides children with the opportunity to attend football classes in a friendly and safe environment and protects children from exclusion due to their social status. The foundation is pleased to have several success stories.
“EIKA” has been sponsoring this tournament for the third year in a row. The CEO of the group of companies, Domas Dargis, not only supports such initiatives, but last year he himself and his family formed a team. “Children’s employment and sports activity are extremely important. Children are our future, so the more we invest in them now, the healthier and happier they will be in the future. Last year we had a great time with the children and it doesn’t matter who scored more goals, what was most pleasing was the team spirit and the meaningful time spent. Therefore, I strongly encourage other families to register this year.”
“EIKA Great Vilnius Family Football Tournament” will take place at the Pilaitė Football Arena on Sunday, June 16, 2024, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. You can read more about the event and register on the Facebook account of the football club “Ataka” or by clicking on the link: https://forms.gle/SFYeV3dbdiFekBnp8 .