The 2019 Regional FINALS of the international event ŽOGARIJA Alps-Adriatic-Danube took place on Saturday, October 12, 2019.
ŽOGARIJA is an international event for school-age children that is held in 9 countries in the region: Serbia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Žogarija originates from Slovenia and was created by Media Sport, which has been successfully organizing it for 14 years to the joy of the children in the entire region.
The Vojvoda Mišić Elementary School from Belgrade’s municipality of Savski Venac was the host of this year’s finale. The event was also attended by school children from Čajetina (Serbia), Jastrebarsko (Croatia), Banja Luka (the Republic of Srpska), Maribor (Slovenia), Prevalje (Montenegro) and Demi Kapija (North Macedonia). The programme included a variety of activities ranging from 3-on-3 football, a skill game, a knowledge quiz, a game of “You too, professor!” and “Young Journalist”, singing and dance performances and Žogarija’s naughty activities. The children were learning about environmental protection, collected and re-used old paper to make letters, created characters from scrap plastic, and learned how to make home-made food with the help of creative health food workshops.
The basic idea of this project is to show children a healthy lifestyle through play and sports competitions which are designed for children ages 7 to 11. This event is a unique tool for teaching children how to protect their environment and be healthier. The project promotes the values required for the proper development of every young person, especially fair play, equality, solidarity, connection, honesty, tolerance and creativity. More than 300 children from the region participated in the 2019 FINALS.
The event was supported by the Slovenian Business Club, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Serbia, as well as numerous companies including Triglav Osiguranje, Celjske Mesnine, Cedevita, Nectar, DON DON, Perutnina Ptuj and Jaffa.