On November 23, the President of the All-Russian Sports Federation of Sports of the Deaf (ARSFSD), Dmitry Rebrov, paid a working visit to Belgorod region as part of the inclusive 3x3 basketball festival “Path to Records”.

Dmitry Rebrov was accompanied by the President of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf (ARSD), Alexander Bochkov, the Minister of Sports of the Belgorod region, Natalia Zhigalova, and the Chairman of the Belgorod Regional Branch of the ARSFSD, Yuri Shashnin. During their visit, they got to know the sports infrastructure of Belgorod: the football arena, the Sports Palace “Salyut”, and the Centre of Adaptive Sports “Vershina”. They observed the training process and the conditions of preparation of athletes.

The Moscow delegation took part in the opening ceremony of the 3x3 basketball festival “Path to Records”. Afterwards, Dmitry Rebrov continued his tour of the city's sports facilities, visiting the “Siren” sports centre and the multifunctional “Belgorod Arena”. The director of the “Belgorod Arena”, Yuri Chernikov, gave the guests an overview tour. He highlighted the facilities and capabilities of this large sports facility, which is ready to host not only All-Russian but also global competitions. The guests were shown a gym, a wrestling hall, basketball and volleyball halls, and a large auditorium that can be transformed for various sports competitions. They also visited the press centre and the Belgorod Region Volleyball Museum. During the tour, the guests asked questions and expressed interest in the possibility of holding All-Russian competitions in deaf sport in the future.

After the tour, the delegation returned to the Centre of Adaptive Sports “Vershina”, where by that time, the main final games of 3x3 basketball had already taken place as part of the “silent!basketball” (“тихий!баскетбол”) project. The delegation actively participated in the closing ceremony of the festival and the awarding of the participants. During the ceremony, the President of the ARSFSD, Dmitry Rebrov, presented acknowledgements and memorable gifts to the Minister of Sport of the Belgorod region Natalia Zhigalova, the Director of the Centre of Adaptive Sports “Vershina” Elena Strizhakova, the Chairman of the Belgorod Regional Branch of the ARSFSD Yuri Shashnin and the Vice-President of the Basketball Federation of the Belgorod region, the founder of basketball for the deaf in the Belgorod region Eduard Serdyukov.

At the end of the festival, Yuri Shashnin, the chairman of the Belgorod Region Deaf Sports Federation, expressed his gratitude to the volunteers, interpreters, referee board, and distinguished guests for their participation and help in making the event a success. Shashnin also presented windbreakers with the emblem of the “silent!basketball” project to the presidents of ARSFSD and ARSD. He expressed his hope that together with the Russian Basketball Federation, they would support the development of adaptive basketball on a national scale.

At the end of the festival, all the athletes and their families had a chance to take photos with the guests, chat, and ask questions. In the evening, a meeting with members of the Belgorod Region Society of the Deaf took place at the ARSD Palace of Culture.

Text: Andrey Popov, Nurlan Tazhigulov

Photo: Andrey Zakomorny, Alexandra Kozhevnikova

Translation: Daria Kudelina