Rotenberg Marks Balashiha Day, Praises Hockey Legacy

Roman Rotenberg, first vice-president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and founder of the Krasnaya Mashina academy, marked Balashiha's city day with a message thanking local officials for their support of the academy's grassroots programmes.

Balashiha turns 196 this year. In this time it has come a long way — from settlements along the old Vladimir road and the first industrial enterprises of the 19th century to one of the largest cities in the Moscow region. Sport, and above all hockey, holds a special place in Balashiha's history. Legends of our game were born here — Yuri Yevgenyevich Lyapkin and Alexander Sergeyevich Yakushev. Balashiha has also become a special place for the Krasnaya Mashina network. It was in this city that we launched the Krasnaya Mashina Dvor project: free training sessions on open-air ice, hockey for children close to home, a family match where sons, fathers and grandfathers took to the ice together. This summer we carried that work forward in new formats. The Krasnaya Mashina Beg and Krasnaya Mashina Dvor projects started in Balashiha. Over the summer, training and sporting activities took place at several venues across the city — in Pekhorka Park and Pestovsky Park, and at the Orion and Olgino stadiums. We ran running sessions, floorball classes and tournaments. We need this so that sport is close to home and does not depend on the season, so that children and adults alike can train, play and stay active regularly. I want to thank Balashiha's head Sergei Yurov, the director of Arena Balashiha Alexander Bakhtin, and the head of the department for physical culture, sport and youth work, Nikita Tarasevich. Thank you for the attention you give to sport and hockey, for helping our projects, and for your readiness to create conditions in which children and adults can take up sport. It matters greatly when a city not only takes pride in its great champions but does everything to make sure the next generations of athletes appear. In Balashiha, that love of sport can be felt," said Rotenberg.