On August 9, FC Polissia inaugurated a branch of its children’s football academy at the stadium in Borodianka, Kyiv region. This initiative marks an important step in the region’s comprehensive recovery efforts, aiming to create opportunities for children to resume regular sports activities after a period of disruption.

The newly opened academy branch in Borodianka will engage 210 children aged 7 to 17 in football training. Participants will be divided into eight age groups and coached by seven experienced trainers. Sessions will take place at the stadium of the Borodianka Children’s and Youth Sports School. The academy welcomes not only children from Borodianka, but also young athletes from nearby villages and towns.

The school will operate with the support of BGV Group Management, an investment company led by Gennadii Butkevych. The initiative offers children the opportunity to train on high-quality pitches under professional coaches’ guidance, providing a genuine pathway to a career in football. Graduates of the academy will have the chance to join FC Polissia, a club competing in the Ukrainian Premier League, participating in European tournaments, and ranked among the top five clubs in the country over the past two seasons.

The opening ceremony was attended by Sergii Voitsekhovskyi, member of the board of directors at BGV Group Management; Kostiantyn Kovalchuk, Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure; Serhii Sukhomlyn, Head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development of Ukraine; Mykola Kalashnyk, Head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration; Iryna Zakharchenko, Acting Head of the Borodianka Village Council; Taras Dombrovskyi, Head of the Youth and Sports Department of the Borodianka Village Council; Volodymyr Doroshenko, Director of the FC Polissia Academy; and Volodymyr Shoma, Director of the Borodianka Children’s and Youth Sports School.

The FC Polissia Football Academy serves as a modern educational and sports hub for children and teenagers. Operating for the past 1.5 years, the academy is based on the foundation of the professional FC Polissya club from Zhytomyr. In Zhytomyr alone, about 2,000 children from the age of three participate in the academy’s programs. Seven academy teams, comprising 180 children, compete in the Ukrainian football championship among children’s and youth squads. Additionally, the academy has a structural unit at the Ivan Piddubny Olympic College in Kyiv, where five boys’ teams (125 players) and two girls’ teams (45 players) receive full support and training from the academy. The academy is dedicated to developing football skills in the next generation and nurturing future professional players. Licensed coaches provide the training, and young athletes have the opportunity to compete at both national and international levels. The top performers may even be selected for the main squad of FC Polissia, a club that plays in the Ukrainian Premier League and participates in European competitions.