Guilherme And Maicon At Football Camp ‘Lokomotiv-Angelball’

On Wednesday, the biggest and most modern pavilion at VDNH hosted ‘Sportland-2015’ exhibition that featured all kinds of sports.

One of the main attractions was the ‘Angelball’ stand. ‘Angelball’ is the first-ever kids theme camp devoted to football in Russia. It used to operate only in the Krasnodar Krai but is now available in Moscow, at Lokomotiv’s new arena.

From the morning, the camp’s coaches played football with the kids on the green carpet and showed them different skills. The event featured Viktor Tsaryov, the Guinness Book record-holder and the world record-holder in ball juggling. His performance was something unimaginable, and in the end he set his personal record.

But the attention soon was drawn to Lokomotiv’s Brazilian duo. Marinato Guilherme and Marques Maicon suddenly stepped out onto the green carpet and started playing a passing square with the kids. They and their parents were delighted!
Gradually everybody in the pavilion knew about the football stars that were paying a visit, and a crowd of people came to take a picture with them and get an autograph signed.

Guilherme and Maicon played with the kids, gave them some useful hints, like how to put your pivot foot when striking the ball, and talked and joked. Then they sat at a table and signed a lot of photos and posters prepared specially for this event. There was literally a crowd willing to see them and ask them questions.

When the signing session was over Maicon and Guilherme shared their impressions with Loko-TV:

‘It was a pleasure to take part in this presentation, talk to the kids. We used to be kids, too, and we understand just how important it is to have an opportunity to communicate with a pro and ask him a question. The kids will be happy, and that’s important to us!’

Then a photo session began. Many people were wearing Lokomotiv scarves. Yes, some fans learned about the presentation and came to see their favourites to ask them about the mood in the team and the future plans. The captain told them about the serious preparation for the fixture against Dinamo and the outlook at the remaining part of the season.

But let’s get back to ‘Angelball’. We managed to talk to the Director General of the camp Sergey Saprykin. He said that making professional players is not the main objective. It’s an important social project. The children play football guided by the professional coaches, and the drills help them become more disciplined and responsible in everything.

Sergey says both the children and their parents see the positive changes. ‘Angelball’ implements new technologies which are unique in Russia. Besides the exciting curriculum, the children will be taken on a tour around the Lokomotiv museum, meet the players, and more.

Check out the photo gallery of the event here.