EYOF has moved beyond sporting grounds: The Latvian team came up with a completely new competition

The 16th summer EYOF 2022 in Banská Bystrica is about more than just sports. Athletes have the opportunity to meet and get to know each other. They also do so through the pins of their country, which they exchange among themselves.

Tennis player Norina from Hungary already has seven badges. “It is not much, but I keep collecting. I have Romania, Lithuania, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Estonia, and Kosovo. I got the first one from the Czech team. I have a few from the tennis complex, but I also have them from other places. I could not change them at the opening ceremony because I forgot to take them with me. I want to collect more of them. I want to get the Spain, France, and Great Britain pins. I do not have my pins anymore, but my doubles partner gave me his. I also gave a few of them to the children who collect balls here at the tennis club. They came to me and asked me if I had any left, and I gave them a few,” said the 14-year-old Hungarian.

In addition to the pins of other countries, several also coveted the valuable scalp of the host country. Among them is Eva-Maria, a tennis player from Romania. “I got my first pin from Slovenians. They came to me to exchange them. My favorites are the pins from Poland and, of course, our Romanian one. I think I only have two left, I would still like to get the pin of Slovakia. The Monaco pin is the hardest to get because they have few athletes here. I have a total of 12 pins so far,” she added.

While walking around the EYOF 2022 Sports Park, we came across Emmy. The 14-year-old Swedish swimmer already has around 30 pins around her neck. Among them are the pins of national teams that have fewer than five athletes in Banská Bystrica. “The most valuable pin I have is the one of Andorra (three female athletes in the team, Ed.). I would like to collect all 48 pins. The first one I received was from the Danish national team. I have the pins of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway together.“

Some teams have even made collecting badges an internal competition. The Latvian representatives, Artur and Beatris, know this for themselves. “We already have a lot of pins, about 25. The management of the national team told us that whoever has the most pins at the end of the week will win a prize. So we are trying to find all the countries and want to get their pins. Everyone from the Latvian national team already has many pins. We received the first pins from the teams of Lithuania and Estonia, as they are our neighbors. The most difficult thing for us to get was the pin of Armenia, because they have just a few athletes here. We want to get them all, but some countries do not even exchange pins. But we will try to get them anyway. Beatris still has a lot of pins because our coach gave her his pins, but I do not have much left. We work as a team, so we will share.”

However, not only athletes collect badges. Volunteers and ball kids also fell into this frenzy. “At one match, I collected balls for a player from Cyprus. His father took a picture of me after the match and gave me a pin. In total, I already have 23 pins, for example from Spain, Estonia, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, and others. I would like to get a few more. I got the last one today; it’s a badge of Ireland,” said eight-year-old Olivia, who helps collect balls on the tennis courts.