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TMK sponsors football lessons with star athletes for Yekaterinburg school students

TMK recently sponsored master classes with Russian football stars in Yekaterinburg. Top football stars welcomed over 300 students from city schools to the “open lessons,” which were held under the auspices of the Russian Football Union. The event, officially titled “TMK. Football Lesson,” was attended by Andrey Arshavin, bronze winner of UEFA EURO 2008 with the Russian national team, Andrey Tikhonov, ex-midfielder of the Russian national team and coach, Ruslan Pimenov, ex-player of the Russian national team and two-time Russian champion with Lokomotiv Moscow, Aleksandr Filimonov, ex-goalkeeper of the Russian national team and Elena Terekhova, ex-player of the Russian national team.  The football players met school students on the grounds of the Ural Sports Hall to hold practices, friendly matches and Q&A sessions.

The event was part of the Football in School project piloted in the Sverdlovsk Region and elsewhere. The initiative is aimed at involving children and teenagers in football and turning schools into district and regional centers for football.

“Nowadays, kids play less and less football in the street, and the street was where we started playing football. Projects such as Football in School help children to fall in love with this game and continue playing it. Our task remains the same – to involve children and spark emotions in them that only football is capable of inspiring. It is festivals like this that kids will remember. This will encourage them to take another step into professional football,” said Andrey Tikhonov.

Alexander Porodnov, Advisor to the Vice President of TMK, said: “TMK has been contributing to the development of football in Russia for several years now, joining efforts with the Russian Football Union. Our cooperation covers, among other things, events where Russian football stars give lessons to young people, visit our enterprises and talk to employees. Our efforts help put a spotlight on sports in the cities where TMK operates, promoting healthy lifestyles among citizens and our employees. This is one of the Company’s priorities in social responsibility.”

Earlier, in December 2021, ambassadors of the Russian Football Union visited TMK’s Pervouralsk Pipe Plant and one of the city schools sponsored by the plant. The players visited the plant shops, talked to employees, played a friendly match with young members of the city’s football clubs and answered questions from school students.