Six sports family teams each consisting of a mother, a father and two children, took part in the competition in sports complex “Khoper” at the end of November. Well-trained and striving for victory Zhogovs, Gritsenko, Visloguzovs, Petrovs, Nikitins and Radchuk families entered the arena. Four stages of the sports and amusing show Sem-Ya were waiting for them.
Eternal fight
Charity Fund “Children of Russia” and Ural mining-metallurgical company, the organizers of the competition, had done their best to prevent the sports families and spectators from being bored. Exciting relays with an enormous inflatable hill, family race on gigantic skis, in huge squirrel-wheels required outstanding keenness of wit and true team-work.
Vladimir Andrianov, one of the judges, a coach-teacher of the children’s and youth’s Novokhopersk sports school, recognized as the best football coach of the Voronezh region, said the challenges required high self-organization and a perfect physical condition: “In order to drive a small car one has to quickly learn how to balance, walking on stilts is possible only with well-trained legs and arms, and those who climbed the 5-meter high inflatable hill showed not only their physical wit but also their courage”.
Life’s main value
The team of Gritsenkos was awarded with the first prize, spectators’ applause, confetti sparkles and the title of the most sportive Novokhopersk’s family. Behind the scene Dmitry Scheglov, the head of the sports school, said that sport is one of the main hobbies of the winners. While the father is warming-up before the jogging, the mother attends another volleyball match. Their son Georgy is an outstanding member of a football team, and their daughter Margarita has seriously taken up swimming.
All families did a perfect job, and the audience got their part of the thrill: during time-outs they were taking part in competitions and contests and enjoying the performances of the famous vocal group “Wizards of the yard” (Volshebniki dvora) from Voronezh.
Yuliya Nutenko, the head of the charity fund “Children of Russia”, noticed: “During 10 years of its existence this bright family celebration has taken part in a number of towns and cities of our country – Kemerovo, Vladikavkaz, Gay, Krasnouralsk, Shadrinsk and many others. It’s a dynamic and fascinating show, and in addition it reminds us that family is the main value of life”. 
Creative warm-up
On the eve of the sports event the charity fund “Children of Russia” made one more present for the young citizens of Novokhopersk: the best works sent for “Almaznye grany” (Diamond facets), the All-Russian festival-competition of young talents, in 2014, were exhibited in the town school of arts.
The numerous visitors laughed at the painting with a confused bearded driver who has been left behind his tractor, admired “mature” works of children from Pavlovsk and Novovoronezh, praised young Margarita Basova’s work from Novokhopersk, which had been chosen by the authoritative judges of the festival for the participation in the contest.
Lyubov Grigoryeva, the school of arts’ head, said:
“We are pleased to host the best works from the whole region, we are bound by the old friendship with the fund and I hope that it will be even stronger with the course of time”.