Sofiane Ouahrani's work is inspired by the district in which he grew up: the 18th arrondissement of Paris. He founded the 18th Soccer Académie of Paris, an organization that trains and supervises young soccer fans after school. Between trainings, the association ensures there is a good balance and solid opportunities for the young adults between school, sports, and culture.

Profession: Train driver and president, founder and volunteer for the association 18th Soccer Académie Paris
Mission: To be much more than just a soccer coach for young people – to organize cultural outings, help them in school, and so mcuh more. 
Conviction:  Equal opportunities for all children.
 

I grew up in this neighborhood, and when I was little, I played a lot of soccer and was fortunate to have been guided by teachers who helped me find my way. As an adult, I wanted to give back to my neighborhood what I was given. I thus engaged in founding and helping with several nonprofits.  Today I do not live in the 18th because I had to be closer to my work... but I always spend more time there than at home! 
  I worked in several sports and nonprofit associations with young people in the neighborhood, and I quickly noticed that soccer took priority in their lives. Their goal was to become a professional soccer player... but very few success: one in a million! So, when they are 17-18 years old, they are often idle and hang out in bad places, some start to deal drugs, etc. As a coach, I had a feeling of failure. I left the association in which I was volunteering to set up a project that links school, soccer and family: for soccer to be a hobby, but not an end game. If they succeed in the sport, even better; otherwise, they can do other things with their life. With some other teachers, we started with a small group of ten young poeple in March 2015. I was 27 years old. We reserved a small field for sports training and next door, we organized cultural outings – the Louvre, for example. We saw there was a real success around this formula: parents realized their kids were doing better at school, they were more attentive and respectful, etc. Today we have more than 500 young members from ages 6 to 19, supervised by 32 volunteers. We regularly collect report cards and make a meeting with the parents if necessary. If a child has difficulties in school, he is given more tutoring and less soccer. Soccer is the key that drives them to do well in the other activities, which is very important. Sometimes, they discover other passions – like when I took a group of 16-year-olds to the Opera Bastille. They weren't excited originally and thought it was too stuffy, but that was the condition for them to play in a soccer tournament the next day. And when they left the show, they were pleasantly surprised: some asked me, "when are we going back?" There, I said to myself, we succeeded at something. Same for the museum: we visited the Louvre before going to see a soccer match of the Euro last year. They got so caught up in the museum that we were almost late for the game.