Poland, March 2025 – Sport speaks a universal language—one that’s proving vital for Ukraine’s displaced youth in Poland. This February, our Director of Training Joe Smith and Trainer Jasmine Cooper experienced this truth in action at V4Sport Foundation’s “Let’s Play Together” Coaching for Community Camp—a week where training, deep dialogue, and genuine human connection created bonds that transcend borders.
Ukraine’s Refugee Crisis: The Context
Since February 2022, Europe has faced its largest refugee crisis since World War II. Russia’s aggression forced millions of Ukrainians—predominantly women, children, and youth—to flee their homeland. By September 2024, over 22.71 million crossings occurred at the Polish-Ukrainian border, with Poland hosting approximately 910,000 Ukrainian refugees, including 300,000 school-aged children. Yet only 188,000 were enrolled in Polish schools last year.
The “Let’s Play Together” Initiative
“Let’s Play Together”—not just another program, but a bold response to these stark realities. This initiative is developing a replicable Community Sports Tandem Coaching Program that leverages mentorship, trauma-informed coaching, and sports as tools for psychosocial healing. The goal? Supporting Ukrainian athletes, coaches, educators, and administrators in post-conflict recovery while fostering genuine community integration.
As we recognize Stress Awareness Month this April and celebrate International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, initiatives like “Let’s Play Together” remind us that movement, play, and sport aren’t luxuries—they’re essential tools for healing.
The Coaching for Community Camp united remarkable individuals from the US, UK, France, Denmark, Poland, and Ukraine. Organizations including the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent MHPSS Hub, Street Games, EdgeWork Consulting, Fútbol Más, Polish Red Cross, Olympic Refuge Foundation, and V4Sport collaborated to train 20 Tandem coaches and 40 young assistant coaches. Our trainer Jasmine Cooper was among the facilitators and shared her perspective:
“As a facilitator, I had the privilege of bringing my whole, authentic self while training an incredibly engaged group of Ukrainian and Polish tandem coaches on brain science and sport’s healing potential. The V4Sport team made me feel at home instantly, setting the gold standard for hosting with such care and thoughtfulness. The spirit of openness and collaboration permeated the entire week, and I found myself learning as much as I was sharing. Seeing healing-centered practices embraced so genuinely by everyone was a powerful reminder of sport’s potential when done with heart.”
Brain Science Meets Real-World Application
The science of healing through sport isn’t theoretical—it’s transformative when put into practice. Our team worked alongside Edgework to bring critical knowledge in sports-based interventions, self-regulation, and child brain development—equipping coaches with skills to create safe, supportive environments for Ukrainian refugee children, Polish children, and others in these communities.
Partnership in Practice: CHJS and V4Sport
As an organization dedicated to leveraging the healing power of sport, we could not be more grateful to sit alongside V4Sport as they begin the “Let’s Play Together” project. V4Sport President Jakub “Kuba” Kalinowski had this to say when asked about the importance of partnership and collaboration:
“Inviting international experts, particularly from the U.S., to deliver training in Poland was a strategic decision to secure top-level expertise in using sports and physical activity as tools for integration and mental well-being. Organizations like the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport and Edgework brought exceptional knowledge not only in sports-based interventions but also in the critical areas of self-regulation and child brain development. Their insights proved invaluable in equipping our coaches with the skills to create safe, supportive, and healing environments for Ukrainian refugee children, Polish children, and other kids in the communities.
The coaches were incredibly happy with the training, which gives me great hope that this collaboration will develop into a lasting partnership, continuing to share valuable knowledge and best practices in community integration through sports.”
The Heart of the Work: The V4Sport Team
We especially want to give flowers to the V4Sport Team: Kacper, Michalina, Zbigniew, Piotr, Paweł, Dominika, Marina, Piotr, Maciej and Kuba. There simply isn’t a better example of a mission-driven team who fundamentally understands genuine collaboration.
We look forward to supporting their vital work using sports as a tool for post-conflict healing and building social bonds between Ukrainian refugees and Polish communities.
A Personal Reflection: POLAND
Jasmine also wanted to note the following:
“My experience in Poland can be expressed by using the actual letters in the country’s name: The PEOPLE were amazing; OPEN-MINDED collaboration was the foundation; the trip will have a LIFELONG impact on me and hopefully on the young people we trained; there was AMAZING soup every single day; I NETWORKED with some of the most brilliant minds from around the world; and I witnessed a group of people truly DEDICATED to building community
Learn more about V4Sport & the “Let’s Play Together” project:
Want to learn more about our international work? Or are you already ready to work together to expand the healing-centered sport movement? Reach out to Joe, jsmith@chjs.org
#nothinghealslikesport