This year, the Vitebsk Region Football Championship among rural athletes for the "Kolos" club prizes was held for the first time. 24 teams participated, divided into four subgroups. The winners of each subgroup earned the honour of reaching the competition finals. Intense sporting battles of one of the subgroups unfolded in Lepel at the city stadium. Five teams vied for supremacy here: from Verkhnedvinsk, Ushachi, Beshenkovichi, Chashniki, and Lepel districts.
The sporting honour of our region was defended by the team of KUP "Borovka", which was prepared for the championship matches by the coaches of the district physical culture and health centre, Viktor Matyushenko and Alexander Pritsker.
The Lepel team became the winners of the zonal competitions in their subgroup, earning the honour to compete in the finals of this prestigious tournament. The final games took place at the stadium of the agro-town of Novka, near Vitebsk. Our opponents were the footballers from Vitebsk, Orsha, and Glubokoye districts.
The matches in the final were very intense. There were no weak teams; the score difference in stubborn sporting opposition throughout all matches did not exceed one goal. Victory was achieved primarily through the maximum dedication of the players, their ingenuity, creative initiative, and high sporting skill. Maintaining strict discipline on the football field and precise execution of coaching instructions were also of paramount importance. Unfortunately, at one moment during the decisive game against the Vitebsk district team, our goalkeeper's vigilance slightly faltered, and this was enough for a rather long-range, but very accurate, strike by the opponent's forward to find the net. The Vitebsk district footballers managed to maintain their minimal advantage until the end of the match.
After this game, our athletes faced the villagers from Glubokoye in the battle for third place. The match ended in favour of the Lepel team with a score of 1:0. The goal was scored from a penalty by the team captain, Roman Khamenka, who is a defender by position but never shied away from active attacking play. It is therefore not by chance that he was recognised as the best player in our team at this championship. Strikers Sergey Nosik, Evgeny Dobysh, and our other lads also made a significant contribution to the Lepel representatives securing third place in the final standings in the competition for the "Kolos" club prizes.