Editorial team: Michał Lis, President of the BKS Bolesławiec Management Board... how many years has it been, and how did it all begin?
Michał Lis: Since September 2015, I have had the honour of serving as vice-president of the BKS Bolesławiec football club. I became president after Mirosław Lik resigned from the position.
Were the beginnings difficult?
Hmm... were they difficult? Of course. At that time, in football circles, I was called a man from nowhere, even as green as the turf on Spółdzielcza (smiles). At the time when the ball was passed to me, the club needed major changes which, in my opinion, should have taken place a few years earlier. At the beginning of 2016, after I became president, BKS Bolesławiec had Żak and Orlik groups. There was no Młodzik group. As for Młodzik, I do not want to return to the past, because that is history now. There were seven players in the Trampkarz group. Junior Młodszy, as well as Starszy, functioned without problems. The first team, which was generating excessive costs compared with the rest of the club at the time, was dissolved. In terms of personnel, things also looked poor. This was a decisive period for the club—whether it would survive or not. I remember the hate comments at the time, such as BKS only until June and then it shuts down. All in all, looking back, I am grateful to the haters, because they only encouraged us to work even harder for the club.
What succeeded, and what did not?
After the first team was withdrawn, Krzysztof Kawałko and Maciek Sawicki came to our aid. Both joined the BKS Bolesławiec management structures. After discussions, we practically unanimously decided to direct all our efforts towards the youth groups. And so it began (smiles): posters, leaflets, a new website, Facebook and so on. During that period, the youngest group, Bambini, was also established. These are our youngest children, who have the opportunity to begin their football adventure as early as the age of four.
During this period, there were naturally groups of dissatisfied parents who did not like the club's policy. There were also parents who had been waiting for changes at the club. All in all, I am able to understand the dissatisfied parents, because every parent wants what is best for their children. The problem was that we were not able to carry out the changes in a month. It was a long-term process. I think the changes worked. Some parents have been bringing their children since the beginning of my term and still do so today. I thank them for their patience and trust.
How many age groups are there at BKS, and how many footballers train there?
Currently, BKS Bolesławiec has the following groups:
- Bambini (2 coaches),
- Żak, 2–3 teams (2 coaches),
- Orlik, 2–3 teams (2 coaches),
- Młodzik, Regional League (1 coach),
- Młodzik, District League (1 coach),
- Trampkarz, Regional League (promotion to the District League, a playoff may still be required, 1 coach),
- Trampkarz, District League (promotion to the Lower Silesian League, 1 coach),
- Junior Młodszy (currently playing in the Lower Silesian League, possible relegation, which would be a shame because towards the end of the round the boys found their stride),
- Junior Starszy (Lower Silesian League),
- Senior (4th Lower Silesian League, 2 coaches and 2 goalkeeper coaches)
Currently, 206 players train in BKS's children's and youth groups, and 25 players in the senior group.
What is currently the club's biggest problem? What is needed most?
Because the number of youth groups has doubled, the facilities are beginning to feel cramped. I will not hide the fact that we need a full-size artificial pitch with professional lighting and changing rooms. This would make it much easier for us to play friendly matches and would enable us to hold training sessions during the autumn and winter. It would allow us to save on transport and renting such facilities in the region. At present, the club has five teams that need a full-size pitch of this kind.
Plans for the future?
That question is more for the club's new authorities, who will be elected at the General Meeting taking place on 22 November...
Exactly—and where will the meeting take place?
The meeting will take place in the building of the Starostwo Powiatowe on Armii Krajowej Street in Bolesławiec, room 101, at 5:00 p.m.
Will Michał Lis continue to seek the position of president?
When I came to work at the club in 2015, things were genuinely difficult. The club was heavily in debt. Not only to transport companies. It was behind not only on coaches' salaries... but even with ZUS and the Tax Office. We asked these institutions to spread the repayment of the debts into instalments. Fortunately for us, we managed to arrange it, and today the club is doing well.
Running a club requires devoting a great deal of time to it. My professional and private life—and my family's—suffered for the club, for which I apologise to my family. At the same time, I thank them for their understanding and patience. Charity and volunteering are specific kinds of work. Our only payment is another person's satisfaction and smile. That is how it is at BKS, and it recharges our batteries for further community work.
That other person's smile is of course entirely enough for me, but I already feel physically and mentally tired. Three years have passed and, in fact, I am constantly on the run seven days a week. At the weekend alone there can be as many as seven matches, not counting tournaments for the Żak and Orlik groups. Will I run? Personally, I would pass the ball to someone else. I also think that the club is currently at a stage where it needs a sports manager. I am not saying that I will not return after getting some rest (smiles). There is one condition, however: people willing to work.
What private plans does the president have for the near future?
I would certainly like to devote more time to my family. I owe my son several dozen mountain trips, and I do not know how I will make up for them (laughs).
If I may add something, I would like to finish by returning to recent history, to the turn of summer and autumn 2016, when we wanted to rebuild the first team, and it was not easy. At that time, we called and visited a dozen or so different players from Bolesławiec County, asking whether they would like to play for BKS. Their reactions varied... but unexpectedly, graduates of our club came to our aid, scattered throughout Bolesławiec County.
So they returned to play for Bolesławiec, BKS and the supporters...
It surprised me somewhat, because I had heard stories about how they had stopped playing at our club, or rather how the club had ended its cooperation with them. Despite this, they wanted to help the man from nowhere, the city and their former club. They wanted to return and play for Bolesławiec, for the supporters. I thank them for that. I also saw their faces at the first meeting, and they seemed to say: It is time, time to come home. To this day, some of them strengthen the first team, having played from the beginning on a charitable basis. There was only one goal: to rebuild the club. Personally, I greatly value people who selflessly give a part of themselves to another person, and here it was also about the kids, who had always looked at the first team with the dream: one day I will play in it.
And we succeeded. The first team, led by Sebastian Tylutki (a BKS Bolesławiec graduate), returned to its place in the 4th league. I thank Sebastian for our cooperation. He is a coach who can motivate a team, and most importantly, the players like working with him. I also remember our first conversation about him taking on the coaching job. The first question was: Why did the president not call me a year earlier, when you began rebuilding the first team? I would have gladly helped. At that time, people advised me against Tylutki. They told me not even to call, because we simply could not afford him, but when I told Sebastian that, he became slightly irritated and said: President, I am a graduate of this club, and money is not everything. And that is how our cooperation began.
I thank my steadfast colleagues, namely: Tomasz Fulczyński, Marcin Szaja, Sławek Dul, Łukasz Graczyk, Krzysztof Janicki, Piotr Juszczak, Tomasz Kargul, Radosław Karpiak, Dawid Kizyma, Mirosław Markowski, Józef Pietrzak, Adrian Popek, Maciej Sawicki, Paweł Rissmann, Paweł Woźniak, Marek Zaraziński, Marek Majka, Maciej Zielonka, Krzysztof Dmuchowski and Marcin Zabawa—our 12th player. The order is of course random; if I have left anyone out, I apologise (smiles). My sincere thanks to Tomek Jasiński, who was always my right and left hand. Without him, I would not even have got started.
I also thank the members of the BKS Bolesławiec Management Board: Mr Mieczysław Gałkiewicz (treasurer), who, despite his advanced age, never slows down; Mr Tadeusz Dwilewicz; Mr Józef Pokładek (management board member); Piotr Bieńkowski; Grzegorz Witoń; Maciek Sawicki (management board member); Krzysiek Kawałko; and our wonderful BKS Bolesławiec coaching staff. I also thank Mariusz Rutkowski, Jarek Rutkowski and Jan Woch. If I have omitted anyone—and I probably have (smiles)—I apologise.