If there was no pitch, there is no pitch. “According to the councilors, the sports fields are breeding grounds for the social margin”

Chłopcy na boisku do piłki nożnej

Most of the children were on such a pitch for the first time in their lives. The children were jumping for joy, rolling on the grass, it was obvious that at that moment they were the happiest in the world. The boys were so happy about the opportunity to play on a real pitch… I don’t even know what else could make them so happy. Probably the biggest dream come true. Maybe a visit to Disneyland, maybe a meeting with the real Santa Claus, probably a photo with Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Then I decided that I had to help these children so that they could play on the fields not only during the summer camp – says Rafał Rostkowski, an international referee fighting for children’s sports rights.

Krystyna Romanowska: Józefosław and Julianów near Warsaw surprise even representatives of the government and UEFA. The fact that in a large area and with a large number of children there is no real sports field there. You decided to fight for such a pitch. How did it start?

Rafał Rostkowski: First, I heard stories about the residents’ relationships with their councilors and commune authorities. For example, councilors do not want sports fields because, according to them, they are “breeding grounds for the social margin.” I didn’t believe it. When I realized that residents of both villages, with very different political views and completely different worldviews, were complaining about the commune authorities and the lack of sports fields in the same way, I started to look at the situation more carefully.

In the summer of 2022, I was a guardian and educator of children from Józefosław and Julianów during their holiday camp. When I saw with my own eyes the reactions of several dozen boys at the sight of a real, full-size football pitch, I was moved.

Most of the children were on such a pitch for the first time in their lives. The children were jumping for joy, rolling on the grass, it was obvious that at that moment they were the happiest in the world. The boys were so happy about the opportunity to play on a real pitch… I don’t even know what else could make them so happy. Probably the biggest dream come true.

Maybe a visit to Disneyland, maybe a meeting with the real Santa Claus, probably a photo with Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Then I decided that I had to help these children so that they could play on the fields not only during the summer camp.

Just after those holidays, on September 7, a meeting of residents with the councilor and her colleagues took place. Then I was shocked. Supporters of building a skate park showed a presentation which showed that residents, including children, had seven pitches at their disposal. I have nothing against skate parks, but I don’t like people being brainwashed. I introduced myself, said that I had been a football referee for 30 years, internationally for 20 years, and that I could really recognize a football pitch.

I found that there was not a single football field in both villages. There are only miniature pitches, most of which do not meet basic safety standards.

It was after this meeting that I decided that I had to write a reportage to show the problem and conduct a public confrontation of the positions of various important people in this text. And so began extraordinary efforts for an extremely simple and basic thing: playgrounds for children. Two years have passed and the commune has not built a single one.

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