The Republican "Olympic Youth Days" competitions are held annually. These are final competitions in all sports. The Vitebsk region handball team, which included 5 athletes from Lepel, took first place. Senior coach Petr Sinitsky spoke about his trainees and the competitions as a whole.
The handball team consists of 14 players. The best players from across the region are selected for the republican competitions. The athletes from Lepel joined forces with athletes from Vitebsk and Orsha.
The first round took place in Minsk in November, with the team sharing 1st-2nd place with the capital city team based on points. Grodno region confidently held third place. The competitions are held in two rounds, and the winner is determined by the total score. After the first round, the intrigue remained: they lost to Minsk but won against Grodno, while Grodno beat Minsk.
The second round took place in Brest. The competition lasted for 6 days. On the first day, they passed control standards for general physical fitness and received the maximum possible score. This success was preceded by long training sessions, five times a week for 2 hours.
In the final round, they were wary of the Minsk team, but managed to beat them surprisingly easily, with a significant lead of seven goals. However, the game against the Grodno athletes was tense. They lost the first half, which in handball lasts 25 minutes. In the second half, 3 goals were scored against our team in quick succession, and after 10 minutes, they took a 2-point lead.
They returned to their hometown of Lepel with diplomas, medals, a cup, and envelopes: 100,000 rubles each. Pleasant memories remain: they stayed in a wonderful hotel, paid for by the Republican Handball Federation.
The core of the Vitebsk region handball team consists of athletes from Lepel: Vladislav Pavlovsky, Egor Lyakh, Andrey Miranovich, Ivan Kolesen, Denis Makarevich. The first three, according to Petr Ivanovich, are the leading players. They are strong handball players, responsible for a large number of goals. The young men compete in the 1995-1996 age group. They have been playing handball since the 4th grade. This summer, they plan to enter higher education institutions and play for their universities.
Evgenia Lyakh