This year marks a significant date - 60 years since the rugby team of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute "Polytechnic" was the first Ukrainian team to take part in official all-Union competitions: from August 2 to 10, 1963, the championship of the former USSR among the teams of the State State Enterprise "Burevestnik" was held in Mineralnye Vody, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki and Pyatigorsk.
The composition of the Polytechnic team at this championship was as follows: Heorhii Lukashevych (playing coach, lecturer of the Department of Physical Education of the KPI), Volodymyr Boryskin (born in 1944), Leonid Kicha (born in 1942), Valerii Fedorov (born in 1942), Volodymyr Masol (born in 1941), Serhii Makushko (born in 1943). Valentyn Khonin (born in 1943) - all students of the Faculty of Automation and Electrical Instrumentation; Yevhen Ihnatov (born in 1941), Volodymyr Varavkin (born in 1941), Vitalii Pelekh (born in 1941), Anatolii Tiazhkorob (born in 1938), Viktor Trokhymenko (born in 1938). ), Viktor Trokhymenko - all students of the Faculty of Heat and Power Engineering; Ihor Kryven (born in 1942), Mykhailo Likhman (born in 1938), Oleksii Bukaiev (born in 1940) - all from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering; Anatolii Makeiev (born in 1941) - a student of the Faculty of Electricity. ) - a student of the Faculty of Electric Power Engineering; Volodymyr Solomonov (born in 1941) - a student of the Faculty of Chemical Technology, as well as a student of the Kyiv Institute of Physical Education, Oleksandr Zak, and a student of Odesa State University, Leonid Shelestovych (born in 1942). Unfortunately, for various reasons, such strong players as KPI lecturer Mykola Todosienko (born in 1937) and Volodymyr Mohylei (born in 1942) could not take part in the competition. It was decided to invite a physically fit student of the KICPF, Yurii Birulia, even though he had never played rugby and did not even know the rules of the game.
These historic competitions were preceded by no less significant events in the rugby life of Polytechnic.
In March 1963, the team was introduced to a new coach, Heorhii Lukashevych. He was a coach of wrestlers and weightlifters by sports specialization. Training sessions were held at the KPI stadium several times a week.
In May of the same year, an all-Union gathering of players, coaches, and referees was held in Adler, where 36 rugby enthusiasts from all over the former USSR met and exchanged experiences for the first time. Ukraine was represented at this rugby forum by KPI coach Georgiy Lukashevych, KPI team founder Valentyn Khonin, Odesa rugby organizers Leonid Shelestovych, Volodymyr Kurman and Ivan Reznychuk, and founder of Kyiv's Spartak team (KIYTSA-AVIATOR) Vladyslav Kletynskyi.
The following month, the management of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute received an official letter from the Central Council of the All-Union Burevestnik, inviting the Polytechnic rugby team to participate in the USSR Student Championship, which was scheduled to take place in August of this year. Rector Alexander S. Plygunov supported the invitation and instructed the sports club and the Department of Physical Education to ensure the preparation and participation of rugby players in these prestigious all-Union competitions. Valentin Khonin, the founder and captain of the team, took an active part in preparing for the main student rugby forum.
In July, the rugby team took part in a training camp at the KPI sports camp in Pluty. Classes were held on the banks of the Dnipro river on the sand. During the training, they were engaged in general physical training, played the ball, practiced scrums, formed a fan and other elements of the game. They didn't play any game combinations because there was no one to teach them. They learned the rules of rugby by reading three ordinary sheets with the basic rules printed on them.
Vitalii Pelekh shares his memories: "During the sports training camp, we were offered to take part in a game of pushball at the grand opening of the Third Sports Day of the Ukrainian SSR, which took place at the Republican Stadium. We were divided into two teams and given uniforms. I had seen this game on TV before. They played two halves of 15 minutes each. The match ended with a score of 2:2. We were very tired from the intense workouts. Together with Volodymyr Mohyla, I managed to roll a huge ball into the opponents' goal. This game was broadcast on television. Afterwards, a large exhibition of photographs of the event was shown in the lobby of the Kyiv cinema for some time."
For reference: Pushball is a team sports game with a large heavy ball (about 1.8 m in diameter, 20-30 kg in weight) on a grass field. Played in teams of 11 players (9 on the field and 2 goalkeepers). The goal of the game is to drive the ball behind the opponent's goal line.
Anatoliy Makeev said: "At the end of July, our team, led by our head coach Georgiy Lukashevych, traveled by train to Pyatigorsk to participate in the Burevestnik Central Children's and Youth Sports Center championship. These were our first official meetings. Upon arrival at night, no one met the team. We got to the local stadium on our own. We spent the rest of the night in the stands. Then the team was accommodated in a campsite in Lermontovske, at the foot of Mount Mashuk. We got to the stadium by train and city tram."
Yevhen Ignatov recalls: "We played our first match at the stadium of the Trud State Enterprise in Pyatigorsk. We played the favorites of the competition - rugby players from the Moscow Veterinary Academy. The enthusiastic support of our team in the stadium stands was a pleasant surprise. As it became known later, students and graduates of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, who were traveling to the places of the competition during the summer vacation, were rooting for us."
From the memories of Valentyn Khonin: "To participate in the competition, the team players received uniforms - gray and blue T-shirts with underpants. The rugby players were also given leggings, cleats, shields and blue and red hockey jackets. But the boots were mostly small, and some of our rugby players (Mykhailo Likhman, Anatoliy Makeev) went out on the field in sneakers!!! We prepared the uniforms ourselves, applying the numbers using our own stencils."
Valeriy Fedorov says: "At the championship, it was quite difficult to compete with such experienced teams as MAI and GPI. They had been training for years and participated in many competitions. But all our guys tried hard, and in some moments even outplayed eminent rivals. At that time, I was 183 cm tall and weighed 80 kg, and I played as the 8th number in the bout. Together with Volodymyr Solomonov (9), Serhii Makushko (10), and Vitalii Pelekh (7), we were inventing different combinations on the field."
At the championship, Polytechnic played three matches against strong teams from MAI (Moscow), MBA (Moscow), and GPI (Tbilisi). In these matches, Lukashevich, Zak, Kicha, Trokhimenko and Tyazhkorob played in the first line of the attack. Likhman and Birulia were the second line. The mobile third line was represented by Pelekh, Makeev, and Fedorov, while Varavkin and Kryven could play in both the 2nd and 3rd lines. The agile Solomonov played as the midfielder, and the mobile Makushko was the 10th number. In defense, Boriskin, Ignatov, Masol, Khonin, and Shelestovych played in succession. The team's rear was defended by No. 15 Bukaev.
On the field, they played and at the same time learned the art of rugby. Unfortunately, we lost all the matches. Physically, the team was well prepared, but the lack of experience, many rule violations, and lack of the necessary chemistry made themselves felt. Many of the team's players were injured because the games were played on unusual stony fields. But they gained their first high-level rugby experience. The team played their last game without any substitutions due to a large number of injuries, and Valeriy Fedorov had returned to Kyiv earlier in the day due to his wedding. In addition, Yuriy Birul, who was sent off the field, let the team down.
In the end, the KPI players shared 5th-8th places with rugby players from Kuibyshev and Tbilisi. But Valentyn Khonin noted that the participation of our Polytechnic rugby players in competitions of this level inspired them to improve their technique and further achievements.
In the period from September 7 to September 12, 1963, E. Ignatov, V. Boryskin, L. Kicha, V. Trokhymenko and other experienced KPI athletes as part of the Kyiv team "Spartak", which included students of the Kyiv Institute of Civil Air Fleet (KICAF, now NAU), took part in the USSR Championship among the teams of the Spartak State Enterprise, which took place in Moscow. At that time, the Civil Air Force could not assemble a full rugby team and turned to Polytechnic for help. The trip to these competitions was organized by the founder of rugby in KIISF V. Kletinsky and KPI students V. Boryskin and E. Ignatov, thanks to which Ukraine was represented among the six best Spartak teams in the USSR.
In December, the Polytechnic rugby team played several more friendly matches at the snowy KPI stadium: On December 5 - with the team of Dnipropetrovs'k Mining Institute, in which they won with a score of 12:6, and on December 8 - with Kyiv Spartak (GVF), where they also celebrated a victory.
That was the end of the first sports season of Polytechnic. Today we thank the students of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute who opened a window to the all-Union competitions and further development of rugby in Ukraine in 1963.
We congratulate the rugby veterans of 1963, all rugby players, coaches, and fans on the anniversary and wish them further victories on the rugby fields!