Organizations database

City Pirates

City Pirates is a social football project in Antwerp, Belgium. We believe that football can change the world. We are active in five complex areas (Merksem, Linkeroever, Luchtbal, Deurne & Dam). Areas which are known for poverty, unemployment, drug trafficking… The youngsters growing up in these areas are vulnerable and often connected to the streets.

Where others see problems, we see opportunities. We believe that if we give these youngsters the thrust, the warm welcome and the structure they need, they can and will amaze us. And what better way to make the connection than through football? And it works. We guide currently 1300 Pirates, aged between 5 and 18, boys and girls, 100 nationalities, and with all a love for the game.

We have a team of 6 social workers. Based on the thrust вhich is build through football we can visit the players at home. During such a visit parents ask us questions about administration, job search, debt
mediation, the school results of their kids, violence… Because of the vulnerable and complex context the youngster grow up, we also try to assist the parents in their pedagogy.

Although our youngsters have the dream to become a professional football player we need to be realistic. The absolute most of them won’t make it. That’s why we focus on their school results. We get in contact with their schools, we do a follow up on their results and the youngsters get homework assistance at the club. School results always come first. But that’s not all. We also give workshops on digital competences (Digitale Wolven), music and dance workshops in our River Side Studio, competence workshops, assistance in
finding a (student)job, cleaning the neighbourhood, organise European Projects, and are active on the public squares.

City Pirates is a project for, of and together with the children. We really want our youngsters to participate in the project. That’s why on the 27th of February we organised a big stakeholder to ask our youngsters how they see the project in the future. You can find the aftermovie here. We also motivate our youngsters to take certain responsibility in the club. They can become volunteer, coach, referee, part of youth council… In a strong community everyone helps each other. We expect that our youngsters help others. For example, if we
helped certain players to find a student job, we expect them to assist the younger ones later on. In this way we can grow as a sustainable project.

Being a Pirate became a positive identity for the youngsters. As a Pirate we are all equal, and we can all be who we really are. It also comes with responsibility. Each one of them is an ambassador of the project. If they misbehave in public, at school, or during a student job, they misbehave as a Pirate, and we will be able to start the conversation. They are a part of City Pirates and they need to want to grow together with the project. A lot of youngsters want to become a Pirate. We see the effect on our waiting list. Currently there are 700 children our waiting list. A challenge we want to be able to tackle in the future, but which is off course
connected with resources. City Pirates wants to become a leading example how football can be used to change the position of vulnerable children. Not by holding their hands, but by giving them responsibility
and chances. They have the talent, the world just needs to be able to see it. We hope we convince more clubs to follow our vision and are also sharing our methods already with some of them.

City Pirates - documentary with English subtitles: Once A Pirate, Always A Pirate (youtube)