Successful Final Day of Feyenoord Street League

Dutch EFDN member Feyenoord Rotterdam organised last Wednesday the finals of their Feyenoord Street League tournament on the pitch of their famous De Kuip stadium. It’s the most exciting street football event of the region. Winning counts but good social behaviour is even more rewarded.

Over two hundred children participated to this event after a successful and complete season despite the restrictions and difficulties of the Covid-19 pandamic. Divided into six poules, 36 teams competed during the regular season for a spot in the Finals Day. In the end, all numbers one and the two best numbers two qualified for the final rounds. After a nerve breaking day, Team Piva from IJsselmonde was crowned champions 2020-2021. The players of the winning team got their champions medal and were brought back to their district by the Feyenoord 1 players bus. But actually this day only has winners.

Highlight of the season
The Feyenoord Street League is part of the Erasmus+ Community Champions League Project. The biggest highlight of the season is the Final Day, when several courts are installed on the holy grass of Feyenoord’s De Kuip stadium. On this festive day, all teams and their supporters come together at this beautiful venue in Rotterdam to compete for the Cup, and finish the season together. There were plenty of other activities organised on the pitch: Panna Football, Measuring your shooting power, eSports, Living table football and STEM activities. Several players of the Feyenoord U23 team and Feyenoord eSporter Ryan Tilborg were also present.

Children aged from 9 to 12 years, coming from the Rotterdam districts Feijenoord, Charlois, IJsselmonde and Ridderkerk can enter this football competition. In total, each year, more than 350 kids from the upper classes of primary schools in Rotterdam participate in the Street League. The teams are accompanied by a team leader, who must be an adult, and can earn points by winning their matches, but also through the ‘No words but Deeds’ standings, slogan of Feyenoord Rotterdam.

Scoring with good behaviour
Whoever wins matches earns points. But that does not make you the champion. During the matches, the referee keeps an eye on the game but he also assesses the teams’ attitude and behaviour. So you might lose the game, but you still can leave the pitch with more points than your opponent as sporting behaviour and fair play are rewarded also with points. You can also score off the pitch when there are no matches by contributing to the social well-being of the community, such as getting a sponsorship in the district or attending relevant workshops (on bullying for exemple). This will earn you even more points for the ‘Deeds not words’ ranking.

Connecting factor
Because the Street League participants commit themselves to others, the #PowerofFeyenoord is spread over a large group of people. Not only parents and trainees are affected, but also local residents experience the impact Feyenoord has in the area. This creates a strong social cohesion in the neighbourhood, with the Street League teams as the connecting factor. Over the season, no fewer than 175 neighbourhood contributions were made by the participants. A real win-win situation!

Ranking of the Finals:
Champions – Piva
2- FC Afrikaanderplein
3- FC Verschoor
4- FC Bloemhof-Zuid
5- FC Middachten
6- FC Millinx
7- FC Rilland
8- FC Sportdorp

Click here to find out more information about the Community Champions League

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