The under-12 team won the National Finals of the Tommy small-sided football tournament, and next week they face an International Final against peers from four neighboring countries.
The young footballers of Zadranova achieved a great success at the National Finals of the Tommy small-sided football tournament, held in Rijeka as part of the Plazma Youth Sports Games. In the under-12 category, the Zadar team beat HNK Vukovar 1991 in the final and deservedly took the gold medal.
The winning squad consisted of Marko Galešić, Lucas Palić, Niko Đerđa, Mauro Pajkin, Karlo Perica, Tonći Olić, Ivano Samardžić, Marko Mazija, Ivano Šarić, and Matej Šubašić, and the team was led by Antonio Perica. Their celebration won't last long, as they travel to Split next week for the big International Final, where they will compete against peers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, and North Macedonia.
This was the 30th edition of the largest amateur sports event in Europe, which this season brought together more than 138,000 children and young people. Rijeka hosted over 2,500 finalists this summer, and the largest small-sided football tournament on the continent, the Coca-Cola Cup, began its qualifiers back in January. By the end of June, 155 tournaments had been held, with more than 50,000 male and female footballers competing.
In other Coca-Cola Cup categories, gold was also won by Balki i prijatelji from Karlovac (born 2008 or younger) and MNK Futsal Pula (born 2011 or younger). In women's football, organized for the fifth consecutive year in cooperation with the UEFA Foundation for Children, the best team was ŽNK Arena from Pula.
The National Finals also included a range of other disciplines. In the chess tournament, organized by Wiener osiguranje, the under-11 winners were Alan Katušić and Ema Poljak Ljubić, while in the under-15 category, Petra Vidić and Tin Biti took gold.
In the 3x3 basketball Sprite Cup, the Pazin team was the best in the men's competition for those born in 2013 or younger. In the 2011 age group, Six Seven from Dugopolje triumphed among girls, and Borik Bjelovar among boys. The tennis tournament, whose finals were played at the Goran Ivanišević Stadium in Umag, brought gold to Lena Fonai from Donji Miholjac and Pavo Zoričić from Zagreb in the category for those born in 2012 or younger. In beach volleyball, held at Kantrida and in Opatija, the winners were Tuljani from Rijeka and the Mile team from Opatija.
During July, as part of the Telemach Sports Days, the first and second shifts featured track and field, while the third shift included the HEP handball tournament, GEN-I cup in volleyball, and Kinder joy table tennis tournament. Special attention was also given to education, in cooperation with Wiener osiguranje and Hrabri telefon, an interactive workshop called "Mental Hygiene" was held. Its goal was to empower children and young people to take daily care of their own mental health and encourage them to openly talk about their feelings.
