Origin Story

​My name is Zander Pivnick, I am a rising high school senior living in NYC and I love soccer. I’ve been an avid fan of Arsenal Football Club for as long as I can remember.  I became aware of the Arsenal Foundation through Arsenal-related podcasts that I listen to.  As much as I’ve enjoyed following Arsenal, I never knew about the club’s commitment to making a positive impact in the North London community as well as to helping the lives of children in need around the world.  Arsenal does this through its partnership with Save The Children called Coaching For Life. I’ve been inspired by what I’ve learned about Arsenal’s current work at the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, which is the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees.  Over 16,000 children have been born in this camp since it opened in 2012.  Arsenal has brought the Coaching For Life program to the Za’atari camp to help the children there develop life skills and resiliency through soccer training and other instruction. The Community Playmaker Project’s goal is to promote teen volunteership in NYC by connecting teenage sports fans with the foundations of the teams they love. I came up with this goal because I thought that people my age in my community probably aren’t aware that they could do something similar that is unique, exciting, and has a positive impact. The project expands on the experience I’ve had raising donations and volunteering for the Arsenal Foundation, which has been really special for me.