Canadian Soccer Club Wins World Ukrainian Diaspora Championship

In May of this year, the Canadian Ukrainian Diaspora Team  prepared by the Ukrainian Sports Club (USC) Karpaty of Toronto, part of the Ukrainian National Federation (Toronto Branch), won the World Ukrainian Diaspora Championship in Nottingham, England.

Team Canada USCAK (Ukrainian Sports Central of Canada and the USA) beat Trident from Nottingham, England 3 to 1 in the final match. The first half was a scoreless draw with both strong teams having great play opportunities. In the 2nd half, Team Canada came out scoring with three goals before Nottingham scored.

The Canadian team was a “dark horse” to win the championship. It was the first time that they farmed a team for the tournament.

In 2008, USCAK granted USC Karpaty the right to put together a Canadian Ukrainian Diaspora team. Arko Batruch – Head Trainer, Vlodko Arendacz – Manager, and his staff of trainers – Darko Kowal, Andriy Yaroshenko, and Volodymyr Larin started choosing candidates for the team.

“Once word got out that a Canadian team was going to England we had many players to choose from and put the best team forward” said Arko Batruch.

At the end of 2008, team directors needed to bring sponsors on board. This was an uphill battle because of the world-wide economic downturn. “The players showed their dedication by paying a portion of the trip costs” said Vlodko Arendacz. He added, “It was extremely hard for the players because most of them were students.”

We are extremely grateful to our sponsors: Caravan Logistics, Vlodko & Ewa Dolzytski, the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, John’s TV Service, Anna Kisil, Dr. Oleksander Rozhoniy, the Ukrainian Women’s Organization (Toronto Branch), Migus Auto Works, Oksana Miroutenko Lawyer, Jaroslaw Kowal, Maks Sales & Service, AV Canada, Kitchen Land Inc., Belvedere Service, Kantor, Fusion Pro, Roman Ivasiuk, Wola Self Renovation, the Ukrainian Credit Union Ltd., the Ukrainian National Federation (Toronto Branch), Morris Adamowich, and Radio Program Prometey.

In 2009, the team trained hard with games and practices to have a chance at winning the championship.