By January 2009 Paul Kulas as Head Coach for the U-19 Wings team, recent champions of the 2008 Ukrainian Olympics held at Tryzub in Philadelphia, agreed that this would be a worthwhile trip and became chairperson for this trip. Through fundraising efforts that he directed; soccer-a-thon, ads, sponsorships, donations, the Wings were able to raise money to defer some of the players costs. By the end of February, Roman Tolochko had two games scheduled in Lviv; FC Karpaty (2) and FC Lviv where Roman Laba was now the Sporting Director. By end of March, Taras had two more games scheduled in Jaremche and Bohorodchany. These games were setup by the Head of the Region (Bohorodchany), Lilia Konsur and her assistant Roman Kapuszczak, both Taras Jaworsky’s cousins.

With all this activity going on the Wings SC were given an added honor by the city of Chicago. Due to the efforts of Julian Kulas the Wings SC were heading to Ukraine as ambassadors for the city of Chicago 2016 Olympic movement. They were given a tour of Chicago Olympic headquarters presented with t-shirts, pins and 2 flags to be taken to Ukraine. Ukraine has two votes in deciding where the 2016 Olympic venue will be hosted. With a large Ukrainian population in Chicago, estimated at 250,000, hopes were high that this trip would succeed in swaying the vote.

WINGS - ambassadors for Chicago 2016 Olympic movement

The team and families departed Chicago O’Hare airport on the evening of June 17th. After a blessing by Father Oleh of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha church the 36 members of the trip boarded the flight.

On Thursday, June 18th at 2:05 pm LOT flight 765 arrived at Lviv airport. Waiting for the team were Roman Tolochko (FC Karpaty), Roman Laba (FC Lviv) and Pavlo Pylypchuk a local correspondent with Karpaty. Due to our VIP status as “football” players we passed through customs with no delays. Once outside the terminal we boarded the Karpaty team bus and headed to Hotel Dnister. Our focus was getting prepared for our first game scheduled for Friday, June 20th at 12:00 pm. This was a problem as last minute the date and time were changed due to a European Motorcycle championship race that was to be held in the same stadium we were scheduled to play on Saturday evening.

The first game was played against Karpaty (2) which was comprised of professional players ages 18-21. The Wings team was comprised of High School and College players ages 17-21. As is traditional for opening ceremonies in Ukraine, the field players marched out to the center circle to the song “kozak march”. Next it was followed by the singing of the Ukrainian National anthem. For the Wings team and their families this was an emotional moment and there was not a dry eye anywhere. The team than exchanged pennants and the opening whistle began the match. The Wings team played very well to start but it was evident that they were jet lagged. They lost the opening game 9-1. Though the team lost they were picked up in spirits by the ever present chant of “kryla-kryla-kryla”. Unbeknownst to the team the “holova” of CYM Lviv Roman Kravets and 4 other druzhynyky attended our game. They invited us to there “oseredok” in downtown Lviv later that evening for a photo op and some drinks to toast our visit.

Meeting with Lviv CYM

Following Friday’s match we were invited by Bohdan Tsytsytskyj, goalie coach for FC Karpaty, to play in an unscheduled match in Zohkva against a 2nd division team named Kulik. This game would be played on Sunday at 3pm. Before our game could be played we needed to thank the lord for our safe travel and to bless us for our future games. As a team we attended mass at St. Yura Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. Following mass we returned to the hotel for a departure scheduled at 2:00 pm to Zohkva. We again were greeted with kindness by our hosts and the players marched out to the “kozak march”. The Ukrainian National anthem was sung with pride again by our CYMivtsi. We were later given a tape of the game which was broadcast locally and several of the players were seen on TV singing the hymn. The locals were amazed at how the “diaspora” were such patriots of Ukraine. The final in this game was 2-2. After the game we were invited to Kulik for a post game reception held at a motel & restaurant named Hutir, we had over 60 people in attendance. The team was greeted by the team president, the director and local politicians. The festivities were something the team would never forget.

Game with F.C. Lviv

Our next game was scheduled against FC Lviv the next evening at 5:00 pm. We would be playing there team of 18-21 year old professionals. The game was very tight and played well by both teams. Unfortunately for the Wings a mix-up between the sweeper and the goalie allowed a 30 yard shot to go in during injury time at the end of the 1st half. The final for the game was 1-0 for FC Lviv. Once again we had the support of the Lviv branch of CYMivtsi who attended their second game for the Wings.

The 4th game during our trip was scheduled against Yaremche the current champions of the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. This match was setup at the request of the current Governor of Ivano-Frankivsk, Mykola Paliychuk, who is from Jaremche. The stadium for this game sat in the valley of two huge mountains in the Carpathians, the scenery was unbelievable. Prior to the game a huge rain storm rushed through and flooded the field. The game was played with the field slightly under water, as the game needed to go on the Wings played. The Karpaty team of Jaremche was comprised of professionals ages 18-40. The final score reflected the seniority of this team as they defeated the Wings 8-3.

WINGS with Yaremche team

The final game was played in Bohorodchany against FC Hasovyk, a small village 13 km outside of Ivano-Frankivsk. The village went all out for the team from Chicago. There is a close bond between this city and village, as if it were a “sister city”, as many of the 4th wave of immigrants have settled in Chicago. Prior to the game Roman Kapuszczak escorted the team around the area. The team was treated to a true kozak lunch on the outskirts of Bohorodchany at a restaurant called “Taras”. Following lunch the team was given a tour of the village by Roman Kapuszczak and Lilia Konsur. Here they saw the local church, cultural center, and city hall. At 5:00 pm the game was to begin, opening ceremonies were the best the team had seen. The team was greeted with bread (korovij) and salt, the local mayor and head of the region made speeches. The Wings team was than shocked to hear the American National anthem followed by the raising of the American flag. This was followed with the Ukrainian national anthem and raising of its flag. The game was scheduled as a charity match and would have the Wings team playing Hasovyk’s junior team in the first half followed by the professional team in the second half. At the end of the first half the Wings were up 1-0. During halftime the team and audience were entertained by 3 lovely young female singers. The second half began and the Wings team had locals cheering them on to victory. The team played in front of the largest crowd estimated at about 2,000 during the tour. The final score was another tie for the team 3-3. Following the game the team was rushed by autograph seekers, which brought joy to both Paul and Taras who envisioned this in their dreams when setting this trip up. Later, the Hasovyk team hosted the Wings team at Dibrova a motel and restaurant outside of Bohorodchany. The team was treated to singing, food and drink. As midnight rolled around it was time for the team to depart for the long journey back to Lviv. Our hosts had done a fantastic job and the team did not want to leave.

WINGS and Bohorodchany team

Bohorodchany - greeting

Bohorodchany - reception

Our final night together one of the coaches had planned a special dinner for the team. This was coordinated with the efforts of our tour group Scope Travel. We would be having dinner at Krujivka a popular restaurant near city hall. The restaurant replicates a bunker that would have been used by UPA in the 40’s and 50’s. While dining with our guests many toasts were made thanking our hosts for coordinating this trip. One toast in particular was made by the coach who coordinated this dinner asking for ALL to have a look around and grasp what this all meant. There were red and black flags hanging all around, pictures of Stepan Bandera, and OUN/UPA images. The coach offered to the team that is why the Wings colors are red and black and that they should remember this history lesson. During the latter part of dinner, in came a group of CYMivtsi from Lviv and Winnipeg, Canada joining Chicago in celebrating their trip. Our CYMivtsi got together and socialized with ALL well into to the next day.

Our trip ended as we departed hotel Dnister at 12:30 pm on the Karpaty team bus. At the airport there were many wet eyes as friends of 18 years departed their dear colleagues in soccer. The hope is that one day Roman Tolochko will come to Chicago CYM’s oselia in Baraboo, WI and be a soccer coach for one summer.

Group departs for Chicago

Players and their listed positions were Markian Popowycz-GK, Alex Hirota-D, Jeremy Hulyk-D, George Hirota-D, Mykola Patrylak-D, Stefan Trynoha-D, Mykola Lewytskyj-M, Mykola Kulas-M, Danylo Zaparaniuk-M, Markian Kyszka-M, Stefan Kozak-M, Mykola Kucyna-M, Michael Doolin-S, Taras Fafendyk-S, Pavlo Fafendyk-S, and Markian Zyga-S.
Coaches were Paul Kulas, Taras Jaworsky, Mario Kolody and Wolodymyr Popowycz.

Taras Jaworsky