On March 3, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The President of Belarus team will play an away match in Vitebsk on March 4 as part of the Fifth Republican Ice Hockey Competitions among Amateur Teams for Prizes of the Presidential Sports Club, the Presidential Sports Club informed a BELTA correspondent. The event will take place at the Ice Palace of the regional center, starting at 15:00. The Vitebsk region team includes players from the regional center and Novopolotsk. The ice squad plays confidently on their home ice and puts up a fight against opponents in away games. In the Second Republican Competitions, the Vitebsk region team was one step away from the podium, improving the result shown in the debut season. For the last two years, the team has been content with 6th place in the final standings. Currently, the tournament standings of the teams are as follows: 1. President of Belarus team - 10 points (5 matches; goal difference 48-23) 2. Grodno region - 8 (5, 25-13) 3. Vitebsk region - 6 (4; 15-10) 4. Minsk region - 4 (5; 29-16) 5. Brest region - 4 (5; 22-27) 6. Mogilev region - 2 (6; 19-39) 7. Gomel region - 2 (6; 20-50). The Republican Ice Hockey Competitions among Amateur Teams for Prizes of the Presidential Sports Club are among the most significant competitions for sports amateurs in Belarus. The high status and level of the tournament are explained not only by the personal participation of the head of state. The coverage of all regions of the country, representative team rosters, and a sufficiently high level of skill for amateurs attract more and more fans to the stands, which means that the popularity of hockey and a healthy lifestyle in the country is growing. Andrei Skabelka, Vladimir Tsyplakov, Alexander Andrijevsky, Mikhail Zakharov, legendary professional players in the past, now gladly participate in republican amateur competitions. The organizers of the Fifth Republican Ice Hockey Competitions among Amateur Teams for Prizes of the Presidential Sports Club are the republican state-public association "Presidential Sports Club", the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation, and the Minsk City Executive Committee. -0-

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