GR
Translation of original article in Greek: Panagiotis Seitanidis
The three weeks of the “Summer Sports Paths 2022” summer program, which was held in parallel on 11 remote Aegean islands with the participation of 450 children aged 6-12 years old, have ended and the children’s laughter is still echoing in the alleys. The islands hosting this year’s summer paths are Agios Efstratios, Amorgos, Astypalaia, Kasos, Kastellorizo, Lipsoi, Nisyros, Tilos, Kimolos, Psara, and Fourni Korseon. As every year, the program included learning to swim safely, sports, chess, awareness, and above all, playing and having fun, fulfilling the Sports Paths triptych:
- games
- development of motor skills
- socialization
This year, the Civil Non-Profit Company “Me Alla Matia” had the pleasure of being a fellow traveler on these summer paths. The president of the Civil Non-Profit Company, Vaggelis Avgoulas, together with his colleague Juliana Bushi and her guide dog Yuni, carried out educational and experiential activities of a playful nature with the children on the participating islands. A sponsor of the program for another year was Safe Water Sports (SWS), which gave the children the opportunity to interact with the Olympic water polo champion Mrs. Karapataki, as well as “why math” with the help of which the children identified the “hidden” mathematics in the environment around them. The coach Mr. Doudaniotis taught them the secrets of chess through an online session and organized an island chess tournament.
This year was also organized the largest football tournament in the Aegean with the participation of 300 boys and girls, which concluded with prizes and trophy cups for the winning teams.
The program closed spectacularly with ceremonies that included sports, music, dance, and a festive mood so that we could all greet the summer “Sports Paths” together as fit.
This year, Elektra Venetsanou and her team participated in the closing ceremony with a dance show in Leipsos. At the same time, for the first year, the program joined forces with the School Wave Festival. Thus, 4 groups of young artists gave a festive concert in 4 uninhabited islands for the closing ceremony: YAMA, FANGS, TROPEAU ROMAN & OVER900 were the young groups that excited our little friends in Amorgos, Astypalaia, Nisyros, and Tilos.
The “Sports Paths” program has been organized since 2015 and is implemented by the Department of Sports Excellence and the Civil Non-Profit Company “Renaissance & Progress”. It is conducted under the scientific supervision of the First Orthopedic Clinic of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with an exclusive donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
