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prima pagina › 2006 › Kin-ball, the sport that has conquered the world, was also played at Suceava

 

 

 

Kin-ball, the sport that has conquered the world, was also played at Suceava




The first part of the contests within the Bucovina Interethnic Cup-the third edition- took place on Saturday, in the Sports Highschool’s hall. At the manifestation almost 150 representatives of ethnics participated from Romania.

‒ Italians, Germans, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Polish, Russians and Gypsies gathered in order to take part in a Kin-ball competition, sport for which, last year, an international championship was organized in Belgium.
‒ The organizers also organized mini-football and table tennis competitions, as well as sailor games, that were organized on Sunday in the athletics hall of CSM Suceava.

Invented a few years ago in Canada, Kin-ball became in a very short while a true alternative of already famous sports, more and more people declaring themselves fans of this game. Kin-ball is played in Canada, Spain, France, Brazil, Belgium, Germany, USA and Japan, countries in which many kin-ball federations were set up. The big number of players and lovers of this sport contributed to the organizing, last year, in Belgium, of a kin-ball international championship, won by the team of Canada. In Romania, kin-ball is just starting to be played, very few people knowing its mysteries and rules. Among these, in the last days, a “few” more people also started to learn it: almost 150 Italians, Germans, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Polish, Russians and Gypsies, which learned and played this game for the first time at Suceava, within the third edition of the Bucovina Interethnic Cup.

On Saturday and Sunday, Suceava was the capital of the interethnic sport. Over 150 Italians, Germans, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Polish, Russians and Gypsies gathered in order to take part in the third edition of the Bucovina Interethnic Cup (the 31st of March-the 2nd of April ad.). If the first two editions were at a county level, this third one unfolded at national and international level, having guests from: Ukraine (represented by the manager of the Sports Department from Cernăuţi, Gheorghy Mazurashu), Poland and the Moldavian Republic. During 2 days of sports manifestations, the participants took part in table tennis, mini-football and Kin-ball (on Saturday) contests, as well as in sailor games, organized on Sunday in the athletics hall of the Sports County Club from Suceava. Even if the events planned by the organizers (the “Ana” Foundation and the Juventus Association, helped by the Local Council Suceava and the Sports and Youth Department) had a great success among the participants, the most appreciated game was Kin-ball, a sport that conquered the world. The sports competitions started on Saturday morning, around 9 o’clock a.m. in the Sports Highschool’s hall from Suceava, in the presence of mayor Ion Lungu and the sub prefect Alexandru Băişanu, as well as in the presence of more local and county counselors.
After the official opening, when all the guests declared that they are pleased with the project of the two NGOs from Suceava, the organizers started the mini-football competition, the 7 participant ethnics (some having more teams in the contest) showing a real fair-play on the field. “We didn’t care about the classification. The purpose of the games was to collaborate, not only in our daily lives, but also on a sports field. Dozens of people speaking different languages, having different cultures, mentalities, habits and even social conditions, met here with a single purpose: that of developing a model of interethnic cohabitation”, declared Mihai Androhovici, the manager of the Sports Department from Suceava. At the same time, but in another room, other teams from the same ethnics were taking part in a table tennis competition. After a lunch break, at around 3 p.m., the participants gathered again in the hall, preparing for the great Kin-ball game. For most of the people present at the event, the first surprise was bringing the kin-ball ball, an “Omnikin” ball, of about 1.22 meters (official ball). The huge, but light ball left everyone speechless. The 15 teams from the contest immediately understood the rules of the game, the atmosphere in the hall becoming in a very short while an incendiary one. The Italian and Polish teams were supervised by their representatives: Mircea Grosaru and Longher Ghervazen. This time, too, the organizers awarded everyone in the end, handing out prizes to all the participants and declaring all of them winners. “Kin-ball is the ideal game for developing communication and teamwork skills”, thinks the president of the “Ana” Foundation, Nelu Todireanu.

3 teams on the field

Three teams of 4 players can play the Kin-Ball game. The team’s captain is the only player allowed to talk to the linesman during the game. The objective of this sport is that the team whose color is called (pink, grey or black) catches the ball with any part of the body before it touches the ground. The team that catches the ball throws it back to other team, and the game goes on as long as no mistakes are done. If the called team doesn’t catch the ball, the linesman of the game scores one point to the other team on the field. There are 3 matches of 15 minutes each during this game and a 5 minutes break between the matches. Each hit of the ball must be followed by the word “Omnikin”, then the color name of the team, and the direction of the ball must be upwards or, at least, parallel to the ground. Another important rule is that, during the hit of the ball, all the 4 members of the team must touch it during the hit.

‒ The “goal-getter” sub prefect

The events from Saturday ended with a football game, between one ethnic team and a team made up of representatives of the media, organizers and county authorities. The second team also had as player the sub prefect of Suceava, Alexandru Băişanu, the one that scored most of the points, managing to win the victory of his team, with the help of Mircea Grosaru, the depute of the Italian minority. The evening ended with an interethnic cultural program, at which every ethnic minority presented an artistic program with their traditional dances and music.

‒ Sports, universal language

The last day of the Bucovina Interethnic Cup brought together the participants in the hall from the Sports Highschool Suceava, where they all played games. Fun and laughter was the best evaluation of the tricks prepared by the organizers. Afterwards, they all moved to a room from the County Council, where the prize ceremony took place, unfolding there the seminar “Sports, universal language”. “I was very pleased with the project and its organization and I promise I will help in the future events”, confessed the representative of the “Sports for all” Federation, Vlad Laşcu. The final line was drawn by Cornel Grosaru, the president of the Bucovina Interethnic Club and of the Juventus Association: “Bucovina became a model of interethnic cohabitation, where every minority can learn a few things. The Interethnic Cup was organized on two plans, both sportive and cultural. We are not looking for losers or winners, this is just an “excuse” for us to meet with the others and learn from each others”.

 

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