In the last week of January, the country was hit by heavy and unprecedented snowfall, which not only delighted winter lovers, but also scared the football community. The inflatable football arena named after Vilnius "Baltic Football Academy" (BFA), built a year ago, survived the natural disaster only with the help of the community. For several days, hundreds of volunteers - from coaches to parents of players - shoveled snow, stayed on duty at night to preserve the academy's home.
Another similar football playground in the Pilaitė microdistrict of the capital was affected by the snow: the roof of the playground tore due to heavy snow. The BFA arena in Karoliniškės was also in serious danger, which was saved by the quick reaction of the administration and the huge forces of mobilized volunteers. The head of the academy, Ivanas Švabovičius, says that the situation is under control, and the arena is not currently in danger.
"After seeing the bad weather forecasts, we followed the recommendations of the arena manufacturers and started heating the arena continuously to melt the snow accumulating on the roof. We kept the heating on for two days and it worked - the snow on the roof melted, but it started to collect on the edges of the arena. Huge storms formed, which began to press the dome from the sides. When we saw that our personnel would not manage, we asked the coaches for help. However, it was not enough, volunteers had to be called. Challenges from the opening of the arena fate does not spare us: at first quarantine, now it's winter with heavy snow, which we haven't seen in a dozen years", said the head of BFA about the natural element that struck.
The academy community responded to the BFA's request for help: high-quality teams dug up several meters of snow at the training ground, community members contributed to them: players' parents, children, representatives of the football community. The girls' team of the academy's strategic partner FK "Vilnius", the coaches of the "Vilnius football academy" founded by Darvydas Šernos and the ANFA academies also came to help, and the academy's administration staff were on duty at night monitoring the situation.
"This disaster showed how strong our community is and how many friends we have who drop everything and come to help. Parents of BFA, who took turns shoveling snow, coaches and players of other academies and national teams arrived. The snow shovels were provided by Vytas Karsokas, director of Vilnius Fabijoniškių Gymnasium. I really want to thank everyone, especially our coaches who shoveled snow from early morning until late at night. Of course, we would not have managed without volunteers. Thank you once again to everyone, thanks to everyone, the arena is healthy and safe", said I. Švabovičius.
"When we saw that help was needed, we arrived after work without waiting for anyone. We had shovels, we grabbed them. After all, it was necessary to save the academy house where our children train. We helped dig the snow, and at the same time we got some exercise in the fresh air," said Rimas, a member of the BFA community.
After a few days of the thriller, the life of the academy returned to normal: the training of high-quality teams and friendly meetings are again taking place in the arena before the upcoming First and Second League championships, where two BFA teams formed from the students will defend the name of one of the biggest football academies.
"The situation is under control, the arena is fully functional. Of course, due to the quarantine, there are no children's training sessions, but our high-quality football players can work safely. They train in a regular fashion. However, we are not relaxing, we are monitoring the weather forecast," said the head of the BFA.
Almost 2 million The BFA arena, where academy players and football fans train, was built in 2019. It is one of the few football stadiums in the country that has a full-sized football field and is heated during the cold season.
