The Third season of Čokolino All-rounder has begun

As the President of the Board of Sportske Novosti, Zvonimir Boban has announced during the giving scholarship ceremony to the finalist and winner of the Čokolino All-rounder, Katarina Milinković, the opening of the new season of the Čokolino All-rounder has begun on September 25, in Županja. Traditionally, at the beginning of the new school year all the Čokolino paths lead to Županja, the cradle of the Croatian sport. In Županja, football has been playing since 1880 and the following year the first tennis racket has also appeared.

This unique sporting event is a joint project of Podravka and the sport paper Sportske Novosti that began two years ago, and until now, it has involved the children of all elementary schools in the all Croatian counties.

Every year the Čokolino All-rounder is more and more popular, and the children compete at relay races, basketball, handball and football.

At the opening there were the President of the Podravka Board Zdravko Šestak, and members of the Podravka Board. Zlatko Mateša, the President of the Croatian Olympic Committee has said to the children that they should continue with their learning, obey their teachers and parents, and of course, to eat Čokolino in order to compete one day at the Olympic Games like their sport heroes. Franjo Arapović and Darko Kralj have also been the sport guests of the Opening ceremony of the Čokolino All-rounder in Županja beside the President of Sportske novosti.

- I am happy to be here for the third time in Županja at the Opening Ceremony of the Čokolino All-Rounder which also promotes the cultural values along with the sport values. The children are never the same and playing with them each time leads me to their world where we all have grown up, and which we all seem to forget so easily, the President of the Board of Sportske Novosti , Zvonimir Boban has said.

This sporting and cultural festivity for thousands of children also consists of other similar school programmes and reading of the best pupils' literary essays apart from sporting competitions. The last year's winner of the best essay on the subject „the world as you wish" Dinko Marić, was given the award by the member of the Podravka Board Saša Romac, and Josip Pavlović has given the award to the winner of Umag, Josip Lotar.

The head-master of the Elementary school "Ivan Kozarac", Zvonko Živković, has welcomed the guests on behalf of his school and he has also said that the school is very proud of their pupils:

We are trying to raise our children the best way we know and I hope that we are succeeding in doing this, he has said. It was the wish of Podravka and Sportske novosti to offer the schoolchildren a possibility to participate in an exceptional sporting and cultural event. The hot competition atmosphere was preceded by a performance of the cultural and artistic society "Tomislav" of Županja, the majorettes and the award for the best painted face was given to the winner Antonia Đojić by the executive director of the Corporative Communications, Dijana Jendrašinkin.

Zdravko Šestak, on behalf of Podravka and the Paraolympic winner Darko Kralj have congratulated and given the awards to the winners, Teuta Rušita and Hrvoje Džijan.

The hosts of the competitions were Roberto Anić and Zlatko Škrinjar, and Čokolino continues with its way across the elementary schools throughout Croatia.