For the first time in their history, the footballers of KS Stare Jaroszowice will play in the Jelenia Góra regional league. The team confidently won its A-class group, finishing six points ahead of second-placed Sparta Zebrzydowa.
The KS Stare Jaroszowice squad that secured the historic promotion to the regional league: Marcin Polański – Daniel Nizioł, Marek Król, Marcin Nizioł, Radek Kondas, Paweł Pelc, Kamil Nizioł, Tomek Król, Tomek Zdanowicz, Piotr Pokropywny, Jarek Cybulski, Tymoteusz Szumiata, Krzysztof Pokropywny, Czesław Sidor, Marcin Cieślicki, Michał Budzianowski.
Klub KS Stare Jaroszowice:
Below we present an interview given to the Istotne.pl portal by Krzysztof Kownacki – the team's coach (pictured in the top row, first from the left).
Editorial team: Is this the club's first promotion to the regional league?
Krzysztof Kownacki: Yes. This is the first such promotion for the Stare Jaroszowice club. I have been running the club for two years.
What goal did you set for yourself when you began working at the club?
When I came to this club, it was in disarray. Everyone had fallen out, and the then-coach left and took three-quarters of the squad with him, mainly people from Lwówek Śląski. I wanted the atmosphere to improve, and for the team to start functioning and remain in the A class. We achieved that with two rounds of the competition still to play.
So the team stayed in the A class and then were promoted to the regional league after the season – was that your plan?
No. The goal for the first round was to earn 30 points and stay up. We earned 33, and it turned out that we could do something more with that. And we succeeded.
What was the biggest problem?
Our biggest problem is our own pitch. During the autumn and early spring, we have no place to train. The training conditions are terrible. This is the worst problem we face.
There were stories about this pitch, including that you are dangerous there because you are the only ones who know how to play on it. Teams scheduled to play there were afraid of it...
That is not true. If you look at the league table, you can see that we won and lost away from home just as we did at home. That contradicts what others say. I tend to think that it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to play there. We are playing better and better and are increasingly able to keep possession, but the conditions on that pitch do not allow us to do so.
So, you have been promoted and do not have a pitch?
We have been promoted and do not have a pitch. Neither the pitch in Jaroszowice nor the one in Łaziska has been approved for play. Bolesławiec Rural Municipality has no pitch anywhere that has been positively verified for regional-league matches. The only solution is to play at Spółdzielcza in Bolesławiec.
Will you play your matches at the stadium on Spółdzielcza Street?
The municipality is to reach an agreement with the city mayor and the facility director, and perhaps we will play at the MOSiR facility on Spółdzielcza for a fee. We secured promotion and have nowhere to play. It is a paradox.
Will Krzysztof Kownacki continue coaching the team in the regional league?
I think so (laughs). I have an agreement with the club officials. Everything has been settled. After the season, we had a nice party with our families and girlfriends... We have an agreement. Everyone is happy about the promotion and that such a small village has been promoted. No one in the regional league expected it.
What about the squad? Will you play in the regional league with the same players?
The boys call us themselves to ask about playing. Whether from Raciborowice or Lwówek, people are putting themselves forward. I am opposed to bringing in outsiders, and I am also opposed to anyone being paid for matches. I want the atmosphere we have in the team now to remain at all times, and one idea is to merge with Eskadra. Players from Eskadra's youth groups could gain experience with us, while Eskadra lacks a senior team where the boys could gain experience. This is only an idea for the future for now. We will see what comes of it.
So will you play as Eksadra, or what?
The name would be Ekadra Jaroszowice, so that something from Ekadra and Jaroszowice would remain. If it worked out, we would be the biggest club in the Jelenia Góra region... It is an idea for the future; nothing has been decided yet.
OK. To conclude, what is the goal now? To stay up at all costs?
No. I never set myself the goal of staying up at all costs, because I hate losing (smiles). There is one goal: win as many matches as possible and finish as high as possible. The first goal I set when I came to this club was that we had to start winning. I knew that sooner or later it would happen because I saw how these boys trained. And if we merge with Eskadra and everything works out, we can comfortably reach the fourth tier in two years.
Thank you for the interview, congratulations on the promotion, and we wish you success and achievement of your goal.
Thank you.