Register now for the BolzplatzCup 2026

Teenagers and young adults can now register for this year's BolzplatzCup. For the fifth time now, Streetwork Lobeda, Streetwork Winzerla, KoKont Jena and Fanprojekt Jena are organizing this special tournament for everyone between the ages of 14 and 21 - sporty, creative and with a clear democratic attitude. The BolzplatzCup is thus celebrating its first small anniversary this year.

The preliminary round matches will once again take place in various districts of Jena:

• 09.06.2026 - Jena-East
• 11.06.2026 - Jena-North
• 16.06.2026 - Winzerla
• 18.06.2026 - Lobeda-East

Final festival on 20.06.2026

Through the preliminary rounds, the best 10 teams will qualify for the big final festival on Saturday, 20.06.2026, on the grounds behind the Westside Youth Center (KuBuS Jena-Lobeda).

From 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., visitors can expect not only the final tournament, but also a colorful district festival with numerous exercise, creative and hands-on activities for young and old. So it's also worth coming along away from the pitch - to watch, eat, drink, try things out and chat.

The "#MehrAlsEinSpiel" exhibition will also be on display throughout the tournament on all match days. This exhibition deals with topics such as discrimination, fair play and social responsibility in soccer and will be expanded this year to include interactive elements. It will also be supplemented by perspectives on politically active fan scenes in Germany.

With the BolzplatzCup, the organizers want to use soccer as an approach to young people - to create encounters, enable participation and make topics such as fair play, democracy and co-determination tangible. The sporting competition creates motivation and community. The rules of the game are developed and negotiated together - as a practical example of democratic cooperation.

Trip to Bundesliga games as a prize

A special innovation concerns the well-known BPC winners' trip. In previous years, the tournament winners traveled together to Bundesliga matches in Berlin, Dortmund or Munich. In 2026, the BolzplatzCup will focus even more strongly on the idea of fair play: this year, not the tournament winners, but all fair play winning teams will win the big BPC trip. A total of 30 youngsters can win a weekend together in Berlin - organized and financed by the Fan Project Jena.

There are also numerous other prizes to be won, including 30 free tickets for an FC Carl Zeiss Jena match.

Supporting program

Once again this year, the tournament will be accompanied by a supporting program for all interested parties:

• Among other things, author and journalist Ronny Blaschke will be a guest at KuBuS Jena-Lobeda on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. To coincide with the start of the World Cup, he and other guests will be talking about "Football and nationalism".

Junior FootballCup

Parallel to the BolzplatzCup, the Junior-BolzplatzCup will also take place again this year - albeit in a new form: Together with the "Lernort Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld" project, the Junior Cup will be implemented as a two-day workshop on 29 and 30.06.2026. Pupils in years 5, 6 and 7 who attend a school in Lobeda or Winzerla can take part. Registration takes place via the respective school social workers. The focus is on soccer, fair play and democracy - and the opportunity to get to know the spirit of the BolzplatzCup at an early age.

Public training sessions

Also new this year are the open BPC training sessions in Lobeda and Winzerla. The offer is aimed at all young people who have not yet found a team or simply want to play soccer informally. Together with two experienced youth football coaches and the city of Jena's street work teams, they can train, kick, chat and get to know each other. The training sessions also offer the opportunity to form new teams for the BolzplatzCup or to gain initial tournament experience.

The open training sessions take place weekly:

• Wednesdays in Winzerla (13:30-15:30)
• Thursdays in Lobeda (14:30-16:30)

Further information on times and locations can be found on the Instagram account "bolzplatzcup.jena".

Registration

Participation in the BolzplatzCup is free of charge. Teams of up to five people can register until 31.05.2026. Registration takes place via the Instagram account "bolzplatzcup.jena", where you can also find further information about the tournament and the supporting program. Felix Burandt and Eric Vasold work as street workers in Jena and are the contact persons for the project. Their office is located in the Westside youth center or in the Hugo youth center.