DFC Zvezdichka from Burgas at an International Tournament in Barcelona: New Friendships, Experience, and Dreams

“There will always be losses and victories... The important thing is to move in the right direction,” said Petar Aleksiev, director of DFK “Zvezdichka” and coach of the 2017 team, upon his arrival from Barcelona.

Here's what he also shared: “I am proud of our school, I am proud of my team, our boys will always be number one for me. We participated in a prestigious international tournament in Barcelona, where our children had the opportunity to compete against strong European teams such as Real Betis, CF Badalona, FC Can Buxeres, UE Castelldefels and Palmeras Team and to gain not only valuable game and life experience, but also new friendships. The medal ceremony at the RSD Espaniol stadium was a real experience, we visited the Barcelona museum at Camp Nou and touched the successes of the legend of Bulgarian and world football Hristo Stoichkov. All this will remain long in the minds of the children, gave them new hopes and dreams that they too can one day achieve something great and grand, if they work hard and believe in themselves. For us, this is the meaning of sport - to make a child believe in himself, to find his environment, to grow up calmly and confidently in his own abilities and to enjoy his successes together.”

In the last 6 months, coaches from the club were on training in Turin, observing their talents and the way they work with them, participated in a tournament in Romania, and now in Spain. “I can only say that Bulgarian children are in no way inferior to foreign teams, we have wonderful children with great talent and potential to reach the high stage of European teams, we must help them develop and direct them in the right direction to engage in sport, to eat healthy, to build in them discipline, high morals and respect, so that they do not start dealing with nonsense as teenagers. However, it is necessary for coaches, parents and children to look in one direction, this is also on the field - when everyone in the team knows what the common goal is for the given match, for the season, for the future,” said Petar Aleksiev.

During the tournament in Spain, the club's management established direct contacts with representatives of the schools of Real Betis, Levante UD, FC Porto and Valencia CF for future joint initiatives.

Next month, DFK “Zvezdichka” will participate with the 2016 team at the tournament in Turin. Academies of leading clubs have registered to participate in the tournament, such as: River Plate, AS Monaco, SL Benfica, ACF Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Parma Calcio, Como 1907, Hellas Verona, AC Monza, Empoli FC and Spezia Calcio.

“This is the way, to play with the strongest, to fight and give everything of yourself and even if you lose today, to come out with your head held high from the field, because you gave your best and to train even harder to win tomorrow. Our entire team works hard and strives for the highest level, because the children deserve it. We thank Burgas Municipality and the sports department for their assistance and support in all our initiatives over the years,” added Petar Aleksiev.