The Guardian on the Youth Sports Games: “A brilliant initiative” going from strength to strength

The Guardian has published a feature by journalist Paul MacInnes on the Plazma Youth Sports Games, written during the International Finals in Split and the celebration of 30 years of the Games.

MacInnes opens his piece on Split’s Riva, at the exhibition simultaneous chess match that has been part of the finals since 2023. On a stage overlooking the Adriatic, twenty of the region’s best young chess players took on grandmaster Nigel Short, who moved around the circle making one move at each board. The twist: the children had famous helpers, with former French Open champion Ana Ivanović and former Burnley manager Sean Dyche among those offering advice mid-game.

The feature follows a week of finals in ten sports, from the Coca-Cola Cup and chess to the Sprite 3×3 Cup, and looks back at how the project began. Zdravko Marić founded the Games in Split in 1996 to bring the region’s children back together through sport. Results were never the only goal: what matters is that young people spend time together.

Sean Dyche, former Everton and Burnley manager, received particular attention. He called the Games “a brilliant, brilliant initiative”, and the girls’ mini-football final made the biggest impression on him. The Guardian also writes about the support of UEFA President and Games ambassador Aleksander Čeferin, who sees the partnership as an example of how revenue from elite sport should flow back into children’s sport.

MacInnes also turns to Split itself, the city where the Games were founded in 1996. By bringing the Games to Split, he notes, the Marić family added a new chapter to a remarkable sporting history. This city of around 160,000 people has produced Goran Ivanišević and Bernard Vukas, named Croatia’s greatest footballer of all time before Luka Modrić, as well as champions such as kickboxing great Branko Cikatić, three-time consecutive NBA champion Toni Kukoč and renowned mountaineer Stipe Božić.

Slaven Bilić, the Games’ first ambassador, told the Guardian how valuable it is that something like this can exist at a time when there is so much negativity in the world.

The story was also picked up by the US-based Youth Sports Business Report and Tournaments.com, bringing the Games to new audiences in their 30th season.

“We are proud that the world’s media recognise what children in the region have known for 30 years: every child deserves the chance to play,” said Zdravko Marić, President of the Plazma Youth Sports Games.

Read the full feature on The Guardian: ‘A brilliant initiative’: the Youth Sport Games goes from strength to strength