Australia's Ukrainians gear up for 2000 Olympics (07/27/97)

Australia's Ukrainians gear up for 2000 Olympics

by Peter Shmigel

ESSENDON, Australia - The Ukrainian Australian community's support for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was taken to a new stage at a specially convened meeting of representatives of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations (AFUO), the Ukrainian Council of New South Wales, and the Sydney-based Australian Friends of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

The meeting - held on June 21 at the Ukrainian National Home in Lidcombe, New South Wales, with some 30 community representatives in attendance from across Australia - confirmed the official standing of the Australian Friends committee under the chairmanship of Parramatta-based lawyer Roman Dechnicz.

The AFUO, as the peak umbrella organization for the Ukrainian Australian community, will be writing to both the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and Ukrainian officials to formally assert the role of the Australian Friends committee as responsible for the management of the Ukrainian community's involvement in and support for the 2000 Games, as well as the 2000 Parolympics.

The committee will undertake work in the following areas: coordinating support for visiting sports delegations in preparation for 2000; fund-raising; fostering voluntary help by community members for visiting athletes and officials before and during the Games; identifying possible training and other facilities for the Ukrainian team, and informing the community, particularly young people, about involvement opportunities.

Mr. Dechnicz, who is also president of the Ukrainian Australian Bar Association and vice-president of the Ukrainian Council of New South Wales, said, "Our mission is to prepare all that is necessary for the successful participation of Ukraine in the Games. Only through real cooperation between members of our community and Ukrainian officials will we be able to get ready for this massive undertaking."

Mr. Dechnicz also briefed the meeting on progress to date in his role as committee chairman, including: securing preliminary support from Parramatta Council to actively support Ukraine's team in 2000, including possible use of Parramattas Town Hall as a 'Ukraine House'; holding discussions with institutions and companies in western Sydney who can possibly provide in-kind support and/or sponsorship and recruiting key Ukrainian Australian community members to work in various "Australian Friends" committee roles.

Mr. Dechnicz said: "I am very satisfied not only that the AFUO has provided our committee a clear mandate, but that Australians with whom I have thus far made contact are so supportive of Ukraine's Olympic participation here in Sydney in 2000. The task ahead is daunting and we look forward to the assistance of all our community's members."

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