On Thursday 27th of September 2018, our club became a Sports Cooperative. The reasons are quickly listed. The Cooperative format allows us to reinforce the principle of collective ownership, because it is undergirded by the “one head, one vote” principle, it pursues a mutualistic aim, i.e. its only objective is guaranteeing its members access to the practice and spectating of sport in the conditions of greatest possible openness and happiness, and it leaves no space for the possibility of centralising decision-making prerogatives and dividing up profits.

We are wagering a lot on this transformation. In order to work, this model needs to be supported by a large number of members. Our wager is to be able to reach 1000 members as quickly as possible.

Our objectives are the following:

• We want to create an organizational model in which the economic sustainability of the sporting project is guaranteed not by the presence of a patron or of large sponsors, but by the quality of its rootedness in the local community and of the latter’s participation in the project itself: for SCSD Lebowski, football is the COLLECTIVE PROPERTY of the supporters.
• We want to offer a football school modelled after children’s needs, totally accessible to all of the community’s families and present in a growing number of public parks in the city of Florence (Nidiaci, Piazza d’Azeglio, Carraia). Today, we count over 170 registered children who we are able to offer free sporting activities, insurance, and sports clothing, thanks to the activities of our members: for SCSD Lebowski, the football school is an EDUCATIONAL PROJECT that is made available to the community.
• We want to promote women’s football, in order to contrast the patriarchal and misogynistic culture that exists within football and provide a real chance for a large number of women and girls to practice the sport in an environment that is modelled according to their needs. We are the first sporting club in the Tuscany region to enlist a female-only team in the Piccoli Amici (5-8 y.-o.-a.) and we have more than 20 female registered players: for SCSD Lebowski, football should be an instrument against SEXISM.
• We want to make the football grounds in Tavarnuzze increasingly open and accessible to the local community, hosting initiatives centred on solidarity and exchange, bringing together the area’s grassroots groups and associations: for SCSD Lebowski, the stadium should be a HOME for the COMMUNITY and not just another consumerist space.
• We want to contrast racism, using sport as a tool to break down walls and barriers. Our teams are made up of athletes from all over the world, and we fight in order to also register asylum seekers with the FIGC: for SCSD Lebowski, football should combat all DISCRIMINATION and strengthen relationships of solidarity within the community.
• We want to guarantee complete healthcare assistance to our athletes, both by offering them access to prime medical staff and by covering all medical expenses inherent to sporting practice: for SCSD Lebowski, football should improve the HEALTH and quality of life of the entire community.
• We want to experiment with innovative ways of managing our sports grounds, in order to guarantee the safety of those working there: for SCSD Lebowski, football must safeguard WORK and fight against EXPLOITATION.
• We want to achieve better and better sporting results: SCSD Lebowski wants to demonstrate that cooperation and collective property are a WINNING model also from the point of view of the game itself.

As of today, Centro Storico Lebowski has over 500 members, and many of our supporters come from all over the five continents of the world. Every month, the cooperative’s members come together in an assembly to discuss all matters, great and small, concerning the club. These range from the colour of the next season’s jersey, to the best strategies for organizing our self-sustenance through fundraising initiatives, which are the basis for the life of the club. Every weekend, our fans come together in the Curva Moana Pozzi, or they travel together across the towns and villages of Tuscany, to support their favourite club with all their love and energy.

Every day, the people who make up Lebowski wake up and give what they can, all of them, so that it is not up to a single person to give everything.

Anyone can support the CS Lebowski projects, values, and dreams, by becoming a member!