Within the newest episode of Her Huddle, Phoebe Schecter speaks to Ukrainian flag footballer Olha Hariacha about her journey from a battle zone to taking part in flag soccer on the European Championships in Eire.
Final Up to date: 20/11/23 4:17pm
Again house in Ukraine, Olha Hariacha lives in a world the place ‘regular’ is her younger daughter taking her cat and her favorite e-book to the shelter at house if the missile sirens go off whereas her mother and father are at Flag Soccer observe.
Earlier this summer season Hariacha’s daughter supported from afar as her mom made the prolonged journey to Eire to pursue her dream by representing the Ukrainian girls’s workforce within the European Flag Soccer Championships on the College of Limerick.
“She has been really loving, she’s the best in the world,” Hariacha informed Sky Sports activities NFL’s Her Huddle podcast. “She watched all the games and was really cheering me up. She’s really devoted and tries to be very supportive of me and my husband.
“This (being in Eire) will not be our regular, we now have to face the truth in Ukraine. Our regular is there and we now have to battle and to be glad about the assistance we’re receiving.”
Ukraine were represented by both men’s and women’s teams at the Championships in August amid ongoing conflict in their home country following the Russian invasion on February 24 2022.
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20 nations took part in the European Flag Football Championship in Ireland earlier this summer
Hariacha spoke to Sky Sports on the same day that the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv was shelled, prompting a minute’s silence before her team’s match.
For many it had been something of a routine journey to play the sport they love overseas. For Hariacha and her team-mates it is an entirely different reality that they face.
“We won’t fly from Ukraine on to any nation so we needed to cross the border with Poland, after which to Germany the place we took the aircraft right here to Dublin after which glided by bus to Limerick,” she explains.
“The lads needed to go from Ukraine to Poland to Germany to Belgium after which to right here. It took us two to a few days to get right here, it was very difficult.
“We know how much it means to be playing with our colours and representing our country, the war is there but we had a unique possibility to come and represent Ukraine and meet so many lovely people.”
Hariacha credit her husband for introducing her to Flag Soccer, having usually tagged alongside to observe him practise earlier than being impressed to take up the game herself.
“He had a beautiful dream of playing American Football, he was watching all the movies from his childhood,” she continues.
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“He started the American Football team in our city, I would go along to practice and then joined the women’s team. I had this dream to join the women’s national team.
“We get along with our nationwide workforce practices typically as soon as a month, often it was okay. At times the sirens would come on to tell us a few missile assault and we must go to the shelter to not get killed.
“We had to stop once for half an hour, once for 45 minutes once for an hour. Being here (in Ireland) is what identifies how much we love Flag Football, it is a sport that is larger than life and about the community.”
Nearly two years on, Hariacha has urged the world to proceed elevating consciousness surrounding the occasions going down in Ukraine.
“I would like to say the best thanks from the bottom of my heart, without the help of the world our team would not be standing here,” she says. “We should be telling everybody what is happening.
“The Championships has had so so many individuals from Germany, Czech Republic, France coming to me and saying they’re with me. It is so a lot, it is wonderful.”
Hearken to extra from Phoebe Schecter’s chat with Olha on Her Huddle, in addition to all earlier episodes in your chosen podcast platform.
