Davenport in Vranje: You are Europe!

From 9 to 15 May, the City of Vranje hosted the jubilee Tenth Olympic Sports Games of the Serbian Pupils, the biggest sports event in the country this year, which brought together almost 7,000 primary and secondary school pupils from over 70 cities and municipalities. The European Union and the Government of Switzerland, through the European PROGRES programme, supported this unique event with a view to promoting and encouraging the involvement of the youth, teamwork and togetherness.

Sports competitions and social events in Vranje started on Europe Day, 9 May, and the opening ceremony was attended by Minister of Youth and Sports Vanja Udovičić, President of the Serbian School Sports Federation Željko Tanasković, together with the Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Michael Davenport. "The School Olympics in all its aspects represents our best shared values, Europe and the world. I am proud of you all because you have invested a lot of energy and effort to get to Vranje. Europe, that really is all of you and I wish each and every one of you individually to win in this competition and in the future," said Davenport to the young people gathered at the event.

"You are the medallists of the most important medal called respect for teammates and rivals. I am sure that all of you, through this act today, will become better persons," said the Minister of Youth and Sports, Vanja Udovičić, in his address at the event opening ceremony.

One of the best young athletes of Vranje, ĐorÄ‘e Stošić, had the honour to light the Olympic flame and thus mark the official start of the Games. Young people in Vranje competed in 15 disciplines in 12 sports halls and on four outdoor courts, and the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia attended some of the competitions.

"The European Union and the Swiss Government have been working closely with Vranje for a number of years now, in order to raise the level of competitiveness, attract investments, develop infrastructure and improve social inclusion, so the very fact that this city hosts this year's biggest sports event in Serbia is one of the indicators of the progress made," said Davenport and specially thanked all the pupils volunteers, who have proved to be the best ambassadors for the city of Vranje through their engagement.

All participants in the School Olympics left Vranje enriched by a valuable life experience. Thus, an eighth grade pupil, Jelena ÄŒulinović from Bor, has described the School Olympics as a series of daily competitions, victories and defeats, satisfaction and dissatisfaction at what was achieved. "However, besides having a chance to compete, we also had a chance to have some nice time together, to make some great new friends; it was simply awesome and I would love to return here," says Jelena. During the opening ceremony, ĐorÄ‘e Stošić, a young rugby player and one of the best young athletes in Vranje, had the opportunity to light the Olympic flame, and he recognized the event as a great honour that very few people can experience.

New generations and veterans will have an opportunity to once again show their talents and results of numerous hours of practice and competitions, in the next School Olympics, which will be hosted by the City of Pirot in 2020.

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