Shakhtar Donetsk, Legia Warsaw and Feyenoord Train Local Youth

Shakhtar Donetsk, Legia Warsaw and Feyenoord Train Local Youth

Shakhtar Donetsk, Feyenoord and Legia Warsaw are taking advantage of the Europa League matches in Poland and Rotterdam to deploy the social power of football. Both in the Polish capital and in Rotterdam, joint sports activities are organized around the competitions to support local youth and young Ukrainian refugees in particular.

Living with the consequences of the war in Ukraine
Last Wednesday morning at a primary school in the Praga Polnoc district of Warsaw was therefore different than usual. Instead of following a normal lesson, about thirty-five students worked up a sweat under the supervision of trainers from Feyenoord, Shakhtar Donetsk and Legia Warsaw for an hour and a half. 

“These are mainly children from Ukraine who have fled their homeland. They often live in Warsaw with their mother, while their father is still in Ukraine”  

Ton Strooband, Feyenoord’s Social Affairs manager

A little distraction in a difficult time
In the afternoon there was a special training in the stadium of Legia Warsaw, Wojska Polskiego, on the program. Ukrainian children come there every week to train. “All the children we see here don’t have much contact with their fathers and live with the consequences of the war in their homeland on a daily basis,” Strooband explains. ‘That is why we want to ensure that they can forget that misery for a while with our joint football training today and tomorrow. And when I look at the happy faces like that, I succeeded. That is the power of football.’

Cooperation with Shakhtar Donetsk
In 2022, Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donetsk also worked together. The clubs organized a sporting day for Ukrainian children who were then taken care of at various locations of main sponsor Europarcs. And a few months ago, the Feyenoord Foundation made a contribution to the Football Powers Up Ukraine action. With this, several European clubs helped FC Shakhtar to collect power generators for Ukrainians. 

Helping hand
‘Feyenoord has maintained close ties with Shakhtar Donetsk since 2017. Since then, we have organized several meaningful social activities for Ukrainian children and their parents together,’ says Strooband. ‘We both know Legia Warsaw well through the European Football for Development Network (EFDN). It is great that we can now work together to give extra support to the children and young people who need it. This week in Warsaw and next week with us in Rotterdam.’