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about gunners DON'T BE AFRAID TO RISK! TRY SOMETHING NEW!

DON'T BE AFRAID TO RISK! TRY SOMETHING NEW!

"Rugby isn't just a game, it's a symphony of strength, strategy, and solidarity, where every player's heartbeat becomes the rhythm of victory."

The Cretan Gunners and the origins of the Youth Of Dope

Back in 2015, the need for free athleticism inspired the formation of a Volunteer Rugby team, the Cretan Gunners. The Gunners since day 1 have been deeply interwoven with Volunteerism, Free Athleticism for All, and Inclusivity; anyone could be a member, as long as the Values of the team inspired their embracement.

Together, with the guidance of the founding member (Michu Pichu) and 2 more founding members that later parted ways, they grew in numbers and initiated numbers of volunteer activities that cared for the wounded society (orphanages, schools etc) and the maintenance of the natural beauty of the island (via cleaning beaches and more) that were always concluded with celebrations through parties. The participation was wild.

 

The initial concept was to introduce the Cretan Community, a very well known warrior community by tradition to an otherwise unknown sport that embraces all that Cretans stand for; strength, unity, roots, natural energy decompression and release, and standing up for those who matter to you: family.

Although the Gunners are not related by blood, looking back into their history and evolution one could find many elements that describe a family; both for good and for bad. People have come and gone, supported or dumped the initiative, gave it spark and/or stole it back, but no matter the obstacles the team grew stronger, diversified, evolved, and grew in unprecedented numbers when it was needed the most; very soon the Lady Gunners emerged, too. And till this day the occasional fight is always part of the equation, but they’re lucky enough to sort it out either in the field or at the Gunners day where everyone, no matter what, participates. Just like Cretan families do.

 

The sticking glue that made complete strangers come together in this level of bonding, has been hardship made fun, in many forms. Upon creation, they established a Club to hang in, support bonding and belonging, which soon hosted parties to fund their way into keeping the only free-of-charge sports team in the City alive, while also widening their connection with the local society and land through their volunteer actions. This means endless days of work under a burning sun, nights without sleep, hours and hours spent on communications gone right or wrong, planning and replanning, countless tables and chairs carried and moved to distant places, thousands of souvlaki sticks grilled and unforgettable moments lived.

Now theory had passed the baton to reality, and solidarity with cooperation and support transformed from words into experience. Every experience left them thirsty for the next one and soon parties became events, and events grew into festivals; and in between, they never missed a chance for self realisation and growth through environmental and social actions, orchestrated by the team’s most active members.

 

The more the ideas and skills matured, so did their end results. Hundreds of bands came to the City due to the annual Cretan Gunners Festivals (CGF), the artists were paid properly together with the art workers through sponsorships gathered by the CG members, while always running the festivals and events with free entrance for all (for absolut accessibility for their co-citizens), with part of the earnings from consumptions returning back to societal causes. A very ambitious and mocked initiative from birth, proved to be not only viable, sustainable, but also vibrated the importance of its nature into the ears of everyone in the city and further away.

 

The sense of unity in all those actions together with the values that inspired the project and the annual festivals glued everything together. But reality always hits hard- and Covid-19 didn’t make things easier for anyone. After 6 years of collaborations with art workers through the CGFs, partnerships had developed into friendships, and the hardship of the period left them struggling and asking for help to make it through the rough period. At the same time, however beautiful and fulfilling volunteerism is, it needs time and effort; and many members were struggling to maintain their presence in CG actions whilst also caring for their personal lives.

So, the hardship inspired an idea; what if there was a way to satisfy everyone’s needs and grow the initiative even bigger?

The creation of a merchandise brand (spoil alert: Youth of Dope) and a broadcast (that never made it on air, named “Gum on Hair”) together with a series of Secret Gigs could give the opportunity to numbers of art workers to team up and create a living.

 

Through the YOD Merch:

-artists could create and sell their artworks and print them on clothing

-musicians (rappers at the time) could be paid to promote the merch in their social media, run the e-shop and be responsible for the communications

-the Cretan Gunners would create the branding, set up the website & e-shop, fully design and fund the project’s initial capital from their team savings, all as an answer and practical contribution to the “Support Art Workers Movement”

-the presence of a tiny shop in Chania Old Port would support the mouth-to-mouth spreading of the brand and naturally, the sales

-and the project’s return of investment would be distributed to the collaborating artists and the 10% of the monthly income would pay back the initial capital funded by the Cretan Gunners, interest free, until complete payback. From payback onwards, the artists would have their own, fully functional on-going company to support their living.

 

Through the “Gum on Hair” Broadcast and Secret Gigs, the Cretan Gunners’ network would bring together:

-Directors

-Light professionals

-Hosts

-Actors

-Sound engineers

-Camera-(wo)men

-Photographers

-Artists

 

To create a professional video-recorded, light adjusted, sound-checked, art-directed show where artists would be interviewed on a number of topics with a humorous approach (hence the name of the broadcast). The show would promote sponsorships, and sponsorships would pay all parties involved in the Broadcast. Additionally, a series of Secret Gigs would create a somehow exclusive set of lives/parties with a maximum of 50 guests allowed, who would contribute to the artist’s expenses with a low, symbolic fee for entrance, which would be added up to the bar’s income through participants’ consumption to pay the artists.

But that was a well-planned dream that never got to inhale its first breath. During the months spent to plan it, organise it, appoint responsibilities and kick-start it, the art workers found themselves running personal projects as Covid restrictions started to step back bit by bit, and others never believed in it enough to give it the attention, care, and responsibility it required.

The “Gum on Hair” never took place, the “Secret Gigs” happened under the umbrella of the Cretan Gunners, the Youth of Dope merchandise was left on the hands of the CG members that designed, funded and gave it life, and Youth of Dope as a Brand started to walk towards what we know it as today.

The heartbreak of an investment left hanging in the air, gave its place to a new dream, a platform of initiatives that could embody all those high-vibe love affairs with athleticism, art, social support, event production and nature, all under the umbrella of the Youth of Dope. The new Youth of Dope would maintain the merchandise as part of YOD’s answer to the Support Art Workers Movement and let it grow into supporting upcoming athletes, too, but would also build its Headquarters in a way that allow the Cretan Gunners Volunteer Actions mature into a Company, in order to help the CG members balance their professional activity with the actions that made their hearts beat for the past 7 or so years, while also maintaining their Volunteer origins and activity through the Cretan Gunners as a free, volunteer Rugby team.

The fields of activity in the new era of the Youth of Dope would practically be the areas of activity they fell in love with as Cretan Gunners: music events, events production & hosting, nature related activities, athleticism, the merchandise created, and one addition that was inspired through a friendship that sparked 117 hostel experiences around the globe, and would allow all to taste the maximum of the YOD experience: the YOD Hostel.

The YOD Hostel and HQ was built and opened for business in summer 2022, and was designed to hug all the art/sport/nature/community experience altogether. Artists now had a place to crash the night after the event free of charge, a meal together with the producers following the standards of true Cretan Hospitality, the YOD team & CG members had a Hub to meet and enjoy each others vibe and actually spend time with the people they support, all surrounded in a 178yo traditional mansion that was renovated to host the grand initiative.

Additionally, after having shifted the focus towards supporting the art community during the Covid and past Covid years, since 2023 Youth of Dope has been creating collaborations and hosting camps with the sports community; supporting young and upcoming athletes who keep training in underprivileged facilities, paying for their own physiotherapies, and being deprived the opportunity to compete in European and Global championships in equal terms. YOD started through athleticism, and in athleticism the main focus is being redirected, while keeping it’s deep relation with music.

Up to this day, every other week the Cretan Gunners enjoy the Gunners Day in YOD HQ in Kalorouma, Chania, some of them work in the YOD operations, and all YOD members & Cretan Gunners bond together in the mansion, inviting all travellers that happen to be there for a beer, a chat, or a free training with the Rugby team if they feel like it. And once per year, at the CG Fests, they all mix together like a family, and do what they do best: turn hardship into fun.

And always remember, the Youth of Dope is nothing but the natural evolution of The Cretan Gunners; not a separate group. The only thing that differentiates the Gunners from the YODopeans, is the Volunteerism factor.

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