Ukrainian teens finding solace at Minnesota hockey camp: “It’s hard for all of us”

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s a day on the skating rink in Minnesota. A hockey camp is in progress, and for some younger gamers, their ideas drift incessantly.

“My dad and mom moved to Sweden, they usually’re like dwelling in an immigration heart,” mentioned 13-year-old Ivan Bondruchk.

The gamers are from Ukraine, and their households are nonetheless there. They’re staying with host households. It’s a reprieve, however not what they need.

“It’s totally arduous,” mentioned 14-year-old Sasha Kormakov.

Boris Dorozhenko is their coach. He has been in United States for years doing this. His job is to show hockey, and maintain their minds off house for some time.  

“I name it ‘Subsequent Era Hockey,’ and this method exists in america for 15 years,” Dorozhenko mentioned.

However even he isn’t immune from what is occurring in his house nation.

“I nonetheless have a household in Ukraine. My mother and pop and my youthful brother lives there, so it is arduous for all of us,” he mentioned.

And that is what you’re feeling, and why you’re feeling for the children he coaches. Dad and mom that they have no idea when they’ll see once more.

That is the toughest half. To know what’s, and to be miles away, doing what you’re keen on, however with a tragic coronary heart.

“I miss them,” Bondruchk mentioned.