Lukáš Pulko
Founder & Community Director
Founder of Mongaguá and the person behind the growth of the project, the work with communities and the running of the individual teams.
01 / About us
It started in front
of a block of flats.
No grant, no strategy, no office. One person, a bag of jerseys from Brazil and children with nowhere to play.
01How it began
In the summer of 2015 Lukáš Pulko was touring football and futsal clubs across the country with the Say no to racism campaign. That is where he met Rodrigo Taverna, a Brazilian futsal player who was playing for the champions Chrudim in the Czech Republic.
Taverna brought back jerseys of the local club Mongaguá de Praia from a holiday in his native Brazil and gave them to Lukáš. He lived on the estate in Krásné Březno, a long-troubled neighbourhood of Ústí nad Labem, with a broken concrete yard in front of the building where children from the area played with no organisation at all.
He went out and handed the jerseys around. That is how it all started.
„I watched the boys playing outside. They had nowhere to play, really. And no direction. That is what I wanted to give them too.“
02Timeline
From one concrete yard
to a network across the country
-
2015
It started in front of a block of flats
Rodrigo Taverna brings jerseys of the Mongaguá de Praia club from Brazil and gives them to Lukáš Pulko, who hands them out to children playing on a broken concrete yard in Krásné Březno. That is how Mongaguá Ústí nad Labem was born.
-
2016–2018
From a yard to a pitch
Thanks to Lukáš Pulko and the work of the team, a new pitch is built on the estate. The concrete becomes a place with proper facilities.
-
2018
Cooperation with FC Rapid Ústí nad Labem
The top-tier futsal club becomes a long-term partner. The best Mongaguá players get a route into organised competitions.
-
2019–2022
The model spreads to other towns
Ostrava under Jaroslav Horváth, then Pardubice, Plzeň, Česká Lípa and others. Mongaguá stops being a local project.
-
2022
Norway and the MOT programme
A team made up of players from all branches travels to a tournament in Norway and completes the development programme of the MOT organisation, focused on young people and the prevention of risky behaviour. Funded by the Norway Grants.
-
Today
Eighteen teams, 400+ children
Mongaguá runs eighteen teams across the country, with Ústí nad Labem remaining the main branch. In ten years in the field the organisation has logged 4,875 hours of direct work with children.
-
Next
The model available to other towns
The goal is not to have as many teams as possible. The goal is for every town that wants one to have a working blueprint and someone to help them start.
03Who is behind it
People, not structure
Mongaguá has no offices and no management apparatus. Every location is led by someone who lives there or comes there every day. Usually a coach, often a parent, always someone the children know.
That is exactly why the model works — and why it can be replicated. You do not need a branch office. You need a pitch and one person who cares.
04The organisation team
The people who
hold it together
Mongaguá is run by a small team. Most of them do something else alongside it — and give the project whatever time they have left.
Květa Pulková
Co-founder
She has been alongside the project from the start and helps keep it running long term, from the background work to everything around the community.
Marek Česal
Marketing & Business Development
Looks after the brand, communication and new partnerships that help Mongaguá grow and open up further opportunities for the children and the teams.
Simona Milková
Project manager
Turns ideas into concrete projects and coordinates their preparation, organisation and delivery.
Zbyněk Novák
Project manager
Helps prepare and coordinate projects and connects the activities, partners and people around Mongaguá.
Bruno Rafael
International projects
Develops international cooperation and connects the project with partners, communities and activities beyond the Czech Republic.
05Awards and records
What others
say about us
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