Nick’s Spotlight: Flags For Fun, an event to support kids stranded by the war.

This week, with no games on schedule, Nicholas Price reported on something more than football.

This is his new story:

On April 5th, 2022 members and coaches of the Lazio Ducks football team came together to partecipate in an event called “Flags for Fun” for a group of Ukrainian children currently staying in Rome. Over 10,000 refugees have been forced to leave their homes in Eastern Ukraine and relocated to Rome. About half of this population are children, a terrible crisis in the crisis. The Lazio regional branch of the FIDAF (The Italian Federation of American Football) got a message from the local authorities asking if there were any sports opportunities for this children. The board members of FIDAF along with Donne for Peace worked with the Lazio Ducks football team and other teams of the region and their coaches and players to meet with these kids on the field.  The event “Flags For Fun” was organized for Ukrainian children ages 7-16. It gave them an opportunity to meet with same age members of the teams and share à flag football practice together. They were able to run through drills and experience a setting that brought with it a sense of continuity. The current members of the Duck’s team have a firm understanding of what it takes to be a part of something greater than themselves and at this moment they were doing exactly so. Needless to say that it was also an event to give the children a change from their normal daily routine which has been completely disrupted due to the war. This event is just the beginning of what is to come as the members of the FIDAF have brought home the idea of sustaining sport activities so that the world can be brighter to those who face everyday struggles as refugees. The idea is to offer these kids to practice with the local American Football teams all over Italy, to belong to the society they currently live in instead of feeling just as guests. We all hope this war will finish soon, but in the meantime, as Lazio Football, we commit to make our society a better, more welcoming place through sports.

Let’s Fly!