The traditional match in memory of Vladimir Lyapkalo took place at the SUSU hockey rink for the tenth time. Veterans of Polytechnic team and students of the coach went to the ice.
The head coach of the SUSU Polytechnic hockey team Artyom Pletnev said that organizing a match every year is not difficult: all the participants treated Vladimir Lyapkalo well, and they respond on occasion at the first call.
"Members of our team are involved in preparing the ice. The guys also became part of the judging corps," added Artyom Pletnev.
Vladimir Lyapkalo graduated from the Automobile and Tractor Engineering Faculty of the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute (CPI). He worked as a mechanic at the Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant, then, in 1985, he began teaching at the Department of Sports of the CPI.
"Previously, where the hockey rink is now, there was an abandoned basketball court, and the old rink was where the swimming pool used to be. Then German Vyatkin, the rector at that time, decided to build the hockey heart of the university there. The players themselves built the site under the leadership of Vladimir Lyapkalo," said graduate Stanislav Mosharov.
Vladimir Lyapkalo had led the hockey team of South Ural State University for almost 30 years: from 1985 to 2014. Under his leadership, the team became a four-time champion of the Chelyabinsk Region, a three-time champion of Russia among student teams, a champion of Russia among teams of the League 2 of Class A, and a multiple winner of regional, Russian and all-Union competitions.
"The match was not easy, there was a hard fight. A tie, I think, is very fair. Not only the hockey players themselves are happy, but also the spectators received a positive charge. It’s wonderful that the tradition has been preserved for so long," said tournament participant Aleksandr Chernenko.