BTN:Start Project for Veterans: Details of the Sports Initiative by BTN Foundation and Shakhtar Social

The BTN Foundation charitable foundation is launching support for a new project, BTN:Start, which provides for the creation of ampfootball centers for veterans and civilians with amputations or limb function impairments.

Thanks to the work of BTN:Start centers, veterans and civilians will have the opportunity to return to active life through sport and to find a new circle of peers. BTN:Start: where the new ampfootball centers will operate is a network of ampfootball centers for veterans and civilians with amputations or limb-function impairments. Here anyone can learn about this sport, try training, obtain the necessary equipment, gear, and support from coaches and specialists. The project helps take the first step toward an active life through sport, find a new circle of communication, and become part of a community of like-minded people. New locations are currently opening in Bila Tserkva, Bilogorodka, and Irpin. This will allow veterans and civilians to join trainings closer to home, train regularly, and meet participants from other centers during friendly matches and joint events without long travel. “The hardest part for the guys is simply starting, when there is no belief in their own strength yet. That is why we created BTN:Start – so there is always someone nearby to support at the start and remain by their side thereafter. It is important to us that a person returns here for the sense of team, and a good result will surely follow,” said BTN Foundation. BTN Foundation and Shakhtar Social are opening ampfootball centers (photo: foundation press service) Sport and socializing: activities planned at the centers The centers will also host various social activities for participants: joint viewing of football matches, tournaments with sports simulators, and family evenings where players can spend time with their relatives. Also read: From training to competition: what sports veterans in Ukraine can engage in. “For veterans, returning to an active life is not only a matter of physical recovery. It is equally important to feel confident again, find like-minded people, and see new opportunities ahead,” says Roman Balashov, entrepreneur and IT investor. That is why projects like BTN:Start are highly valuable: they create an accessible environment where sport becomes a pillar, helps restore the sense of a team, and keeps moving forward, he emphasized. Shakhtar Social and BTN Foundation expand opportunities for veteran rehabilitation. In Shakhtar Social they note that they already have successful experience implementing similar projects in Chernihiv and Mykolaiv. The team understands how important and at the same time difficult it is for people after serious injuries to return to active life. “We have enough experience to prepare everything necessary for ampfootball centers, recruit specialists, and start trainings,” said Myroslava Pynda, project manager at Shakhtar Social. She added that this is why the foundation united efforts with BTN Foundation to expand opportunities for veteran recovery and sports in other cities. It should be noted that the BTN:Start project became the first joint initiative of the BTN Foundation and the Shakhtar Social charitable fund for ampfootball development in Ukraine. The foundations are joining forces and systematically supporting projects that promote inclusive and adaptive sport. How to join Inquiries about how to join trainings in Bila Tserkva, Bilogorodka, and Irpin can be obtained by calling: +380 67 673 4542

Recall that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a new program to support veterans. The government should develop changes that redirect state and local resources to effective assistance for defenders.