Children know better: What a future looks like when everyone belongs

Children know better: What a future looks like when everyone belongs

At a football field in Bujanovac, at the end of May, sport became much more than just a game. On that day, children who rarely have the chance to meet — from Serbian, Albanian, Roma, migrant, and refugee communities, as well as unaccompanied minors — ran together, shared team tasks, and cheered for one another. In that field, no one was different or less important.

The sports festival under the slogan “Equality, Nonviolence, Inclusion” was dedicated to values often forgotten today — equality, nonviolence, mutual support, and trust. It brought together more than a hundred children from different communities in one place. The festival was designed and organized by activists from the citizens’ association Atina, within the regional project “Sport Together”, supported by the European Union and the Erasmus+ program. Many local and regional partners also supported the event. Among them were the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, the elementary schools “Branko Radičević” and “Naim Frašeri” from Bujanovac, the football club BSK Bujanovac, the women’s football club Dinamo Vranje, and the club Meraki from Niš. Together with 20 coaches, trainers, and volunteers, they created a space where every child felt safe and accepted.

The entire festival was carefully designed to allow children to learn through play how to be together and how to create together. Instead of competition, the spirit of cooperation was encouraged. Instead of divisions, teams were formed where differences were not obstacles but advantages.

The games the children played were not just fun — they were thoughtfully created to deliver messages about tolerance, gender equality, peaceful conflict resolution, communication, and empathy through movement and laughter. At each station on the field, trust was born anew among those who might never have spoken before. Every activity was a small step toward greater understanding.

At each station, children played games that were both fun and educational. The first game was a combination of hide-and-seek and color recognition, teaching lessons about tolerance and gender equality. Next, they took part in relay races that encouraged cooperation and teamwork. This was followed by a ball game where children practiced fair play and learned peaceful conflict resolution. At the next station, they played tic-tac-toe in pairs, which helped develop communication, logic, and strategy. The last game was called “penalty after spinning” — children spun around before shooting at the goal. This was both enjoyable and symbolic, highlighting the importance of empathy, understanding, and mutual life support.

The most beautiful moments happened spontaneously — when children laughed, cheered each other on, and silently agreed while playing. Through drawing posters on the theme “How I see myself on the field” and exchanging messages, they expressed something hard to put into words: a feeling of belonging to something bigger.

One of the key lessons of the festival is that single, one-time activities, though important, are not enough to create lasting change, especially in places where schools, sports, and social structures remain ethnically divided. That’s why a long-term, comprehensive approach is necessary, involving schools, clubs, parents, coaches, and children, to build a new culture of coexistence and redefine identity narratives.

The model used at this event has demonstrated its effectiveness and holds great potential to connect communities. This encourages further spreading and application of such initiatives. Atina will continue to invest efforts in this direction, using sport as a tool to build trust, equality, and peace in divided communities.

At the same time, it revealed how much sport can unite — but also how deep everyday divisions remain. In communities where children grow up in different educational, sports, and social systems, with very few points of contact, events like this are more than symbols — they are the first concrete steps toward change.

From everything that came out of that day, it is clear that one afternoon of play cannot change reality. But it can point the way. For togetherness to become a part of everyday life, time, persistence, and joint effort from schools, clubs, parents, coaches, and the children themselves are needed. And this is where Atina sees its task and responsibility: not to stop at just one day, but to continue using sport as a language everyone understands — and as a means to build a new society, where boundaries disappear as soon as the ball starts rolling from the center.

Join us in creating a space where every child has the right to play, grow, and belong.