My

Story

Maryna

“My name is Maryna, I am from Chernivtsi, a city in the West of Ukraine where I work as a PE teacher. I am actually a lawyer because my parents believed that sport is not a real profession. In Chernivtsi it is very popular to be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer or an economist. However, when I was working as a lawyer and sitting behind the computer the whole day, I realized that this work environment is just not suitable for me. When I was a student myself, I always loved to be active and to do sports. Therefore, I quit my job as a lawyer and studied physical education to become a PE-teacher. The kids are my motivators, my role models and my inspiration. I love my work with the children because even though I am getting older, they keep me young. I get to move around a lot and never sit in one spot.

The war in Ukraine has posed a big challenge for us teachers in Chernivtsi. More than 60’000 displaced people came to the city and many children joined our schools. We had to make a plan how to get the new children involved, how to integrate them and how to adapt them to their new environment. A lot of kids are traumatized by the war and need support: when they hear an airplane, sirens or other sounds they hide themselves.

This is why I am really glad to do this Young Coach Education and to learn how to deal with these kids.

I really liked the lecture on trauma sensitive pedagogy for example, because I learned in what way I can speak to the children. I am also going to implement the activities we learnt from the instructors such as icebreakers and games that unite the whole group into mine at school. As a coach I want to give the children the feeling that they can trust me and that they can open-up. I think that sports can help dealing with trauma because you become more open. And this is also what I want to teach the children. Because a lot of kids tend to separate themselves from the group, so I will try to use what I learned here at the Young Coach Education to include all kids and that no one remains left out.”