From this season onwards AFU introduced a new rule for children’s tournaments. Each age group is now allowed to register as many players who are one year older than the age group applied for as the applicant wishes, provided that the player was born no earlier than 1 August of his or her year of birth. In the U15 Championship, accordingly, it goes about the children born no earlier than 01 August 2005.

The novelty is quite debatable in its relevance and Phoenix, staffed with the players born in 2007 and 2008, did not support the initiative. It meant too big an age gap between the players. Moreover, the younger the age group, the bigger significance the gap infers.

Oleksander Kaplun, Ilichovets’ head coach, and one of the key lobbyists for the novelty in the current Championship, turned out to be among the ones who suffered the most from his own initiative. That is, of course, from the perspective of results. The result for the Chornomorsk team is quite uncommon – only one point gained in the four kick-off matches of the Championship. The point was acquired in a match against Crystal of Odessa, staffed with as little as two older players, which are not different in physique from their younger teammates.

I am certain, though, the score is Oleksander’s smallest concern now. The task Ilichovets is confronted with these days is to create a team, out of the players born in 2008-2009, which will be head and shoulders above the rest in two seasons’ time. One can be sure the aspiration is bound to come true by observing Kaplun’s youngsters. For the sceptics, there is a successful example of Respect Sports School of Manevychi. The team registered seven (!) players born in 2008 and one born in 2009. Look at the standings, though, the Manevychi team is in the 4th position, yielding to the team in the second position by additional indicators only. Lower in the standings are, by the way, Phoenix, Energiya, Urahan, Hopri…

The coaching philosophy of the Manevychi team is mostly stipulated by the reasoning that it is hard to set up a full-fledged team by each of the age groups in a small urban-type settlement the size of Kharkiv’s administrative district of a moderate size. Chornomorsk, though, perceived the idea in its own way.

So, while in today’ match Phoenix was handling its local issues: trying different staffing of the four-player squads and perfecting the 5-a-side, the boys of Ilichovsk were literally fighting not for today's result but for their own team in, say, season 2022/23.

They fought so desperately and wholeheartedly that it could not but win hearts – of the fans following the game online, of those, who were present on site and the hearts of the opposition, read: our hearts. Ilichovets had attempted for our goal 37 times: more than any of the three our previous rivals in this away round. For the sake of comparison, in the only match we lost to Sports School No 4 of Rivne, the opposition attempted for our goal 20 times. Should we recall the bronze final of the Cup of Ukraine U15, which took place last month in the same sportsground, Oleksander Kaplun’s players attempted for our goal as many as 49 times!

Today’s battle evoked such great respect that big Khodatskyy pretended he was not dragging Vitalii Zakora, clinging to his bib, for at least 10 meters along the field.

The memento became the very soul of the match: the embodiment of the fighting spirit, perseverance and aspiration that Phoenix knows very well.

This October the match for the bronze in the Ukrainian Cup U15, in which Phoenix gained such a challenging victory countering Oleksander Kaplun’s team, took place the day after we got swept in the semi-final by Olympic, whose players surpassed us both in height and age. Our coaches back then, at a post-match session, held up Kaplun’s youngsters as an example.

Both Ilichovets and Respect could serve as an example not only for the violets but also for many other teams, who aspire for better sports results and team growth, for those, who teach children to win, despite external factors, to carry on, counting on their own potential, instead of blaming the failures on unlucky circumstances.