One day I was watching the German television station’s DSF satellite sports channel. A match between St. Pauli and SV Mappen was being broadcast. One of the actors on the pitch was a short footballer wearing number 4, with a great fighting spirit and clearly standing out on the field. His name was Zbigniew Szewczyk, a graduate of the BKS Bolesławiec club and later a Zagłębie Lubin player. Together with his Lubin teammates, he first won promotion to the First League and later the Polish championship. It was no coincidence that I began with our representative’s appearance in the German league, because today I wanted to write about our juniors—the hopes of coaches and fans for creating a team for the future. For the past three seasons, the current older-junior team has successively won the championship in its age category. At present, after the autumn round, it occupies second place in the competition table, one point behind the leaders, Włókniarz Leśna. There is a real chance of promotion, after five years of absence, to the inter-voivodeship class. The young footballers completed their preparation period for the spring round locally, in Bolesławiec, under coach Mirosław Szapiel. Training sessions were held three times a week in the gymnasium of Primary School No. 3, with almost one-hundred-percent attendance. On behalf of the coach and BKS Club, I would like to thank the school’s headmaster, L. Kasprzycki, MA, for making the gym available for training during the past period, as well as for future cooperation. A well-worked winter period should pay dividends on the pitch in spring.
The broad BKS junior squad consists of: W. Młocek, D. Padewski, P. Śliwiński, J. Bąk, M. Szaja, P. Woźniak, J. Stec, K. Kozioł, B. Zając, S. Tylutki, Z. Wiśniowiecki, T. Zachariasz, M. Dąbrowski, T. Związek, G. Kłosowski, R. Nitarski, Ł. Popek, R. Stasiak, M. Paluch, M. Kuczyński, M. Paluszek, B. Kubica, M. Grzegorzewski, D. Paprot, D. Giza (Daniel Giza, the team’s top scorer, will miss the first matches because of an injury). This team may also contain footballers of Zbigniew Szewczyk’s calibre; they simply still need to refine their skills, as well as good equipment.
This includes football boots, match and training balls. It simply comes down to finances.
Most of the juniors have played from the beginning in boots bought by parents who are not always well-off. At present, they cost 400,000–500,000 zlotys. Many parents cannot afford such a purchase. The club is poor too.
I appeal here to football supporters and potential sponsors to take an interest in this team. It is truly worthwhile!
The first match in Bolesławiec will take place on 9 April against a team from Węgliniec. We invite you to watch the players in action on the pitch. See you after the holidays at the stadium!