What was it like growing up as a young footballer in Poland?
KS: “First of all, you have to remember that women’s football is growing in Poland, but back when I was a child it was not that popular, so I was really the only girl in my town who played, so I played with the boys, because that was the only way I could play. That was the biggest challenge to play because I was alone and my family didn’t understand. It was socially perceived as a men’s sport, so they would say ‘Why don’t you go and play volleyball or something else?’, but I had so much passion for football.
“As time went on, they started realising ‘Oh, she actually loves this, so we will support her’, and from then on they were nothing but supportive. As I got older, I left Poland and joined other clubs and it got easier for me.”
What are your best memories?
KS: “I have so many connected with football. It started with running around with my brothers. I was the youngest, so I was always being the goalie because that's the rule!”
Does Kinga’s story resonate with you, Łukasz, with not many girls playing football when you were growing up?
LF: “First of all, I want to say that's a beautiful answer because if you think about it, obviously growing up as a boy, especially back in the day at my age, all you did was just play football outside with your mates, and you rarely saw any girls involved. So for me, when you ask me about any struggles, I can't really say [I had any] because everyone wanted to play football, so you just got on with it and always had people to play with and you weren’t put in a position like Kinga said and weren’t asked to change your sport.
“So, in terms of my growing up and development, I'm not going to say it was smooth because obviously there were some little obstacles but not like in Kinga's case. Now, like you said, women’s football in Poland is growing, it’s becoming more popular and you see a lot more girls getting involved and trying it.”