The fourth big sports celebration, under the framework of OPAP Sports Academies program, was held with great success and the participation of 610 children and 1.000 parents and chaperons in the Municipal Stadium of Katerini on Sunday, March 20th.

The festival was attended by 9 academies from the wider area of the municipalities of Pieria, Serres, Kilkis and Florina: PAE Pontion Katerinis, Atromitos Ptolemaidas, Nireas Verias, Ermis Amynteou, PAS Florina, M.Alexandros Florinas, Almopos Arideas, Panseraikos Serron, Serron PO 2000.

In accordance with the philosophy and values of the Sports Academies program, all activities during the festivals focus in the most enjoyable of ways on the values that make up the athletic ideal, especially fair play, respect, ethics and teamwork. The young athletes participate in teamwork and football skills games, games-courses on nutrition issues and an experiential activity during which they practice sports as Paralympic athletes. At the same time, parents and chaperons attend seminars and speeches by the members of the specialized scientific team of the program on psychology, nutrition and first aid issues.

A team of sports ambassadors from Olympic and Paralympic sports with significant distinctions for their ethos, respect towards their co-athletes and fair play attended the Festival in Katerini offering valuable advice to the children. In particular, the event was attended by: Vasilis Chatzipanagis, Katerina Nikolaidou, Gremis Moisiadis and Paschalis Kouloumoglou.

OPAP organizes big sports festivals in ten cities around Greece. During the first four festivals in Heraklion, Patras, Athens and Katerini OPAP has shared the joy of sports with 3.370 children and 5.250 parents and chaperons. The OPAP Sports Academies Festival’s journey continues in Larissa, Argos, Ioannina, Xanthi and Thessaloniki.