The Warsaw-based Chrzaszczyki soccer club is well known as “Poland’s first lesbian football club”. This week, as well as in light of Andrzej Duda’s present re-election, we’d the opportunity to talk with its founder, Italian-born Suzi Andreis, that has been residing and fighting https://www.camsloveaholics.com/female/blondie for LGBT+ liberties in Poland for longer than 2 full decades. She informs us about her work, her jobs along with her experience surviving in Poland.

Hi Suzi, many thanks for using the right time for you to respond to our concerns. First things first, limitations are gradually reducing up. Just exactly just exactly What happens to be your experience throughout the pandemic?

Covid possessed an impact that is huge our task, we needed to cancel our yearly soccer Against Homophobia competition that has been prepared for March 14. We’d and to stop our regular conferences of y our Womxn’s Football Academy task. We been able to start training once more during the Academy at the start of June but, to date, Covid limits ensure it is impractical to arrange a competition, which may have all been terminated.

Strange times certainly. But let’s begin at the start. Just Just Exactly How did Chrzaszczyki Soccer Team begin?

C hrzaszczyki began very informally in the summertime of 1999. A few members of a lesbian mailing list had the idea meet in a park in Warsaw, to spend some time together, and to play football as part of the LBT+ environment. It absolutely was type of bull crap. We didn’t have united group and extremely handful of us had any soccer experience. But we liked that really very first game therefore much that individuals chose to carry on.

“In the initial years, our absolute goal would be to produce a place for womxn when you look at the community that is LGBT Warsaw. ” Credit: Suzi Andreis

Exactly exactly What took place next?

In the 1st years, our absolute goal would be to produce a place for womxn when you look at the LGBT+ community in Warsaw. Games would happen on a regular basis, these people were available (pickup), we barely ever played on a genuine pitch. The concern would be to produce a place where non-heteronormative womxn could fulfill. Soccer had been a additional problem. But things changed in 2007 whenever we arranged our tournament that is first it absolutely was a success! We then made a decision to give attention to soccer, to build up as being a team, not only as community of womxn.

You will be referred to as “Poland’s first lesbian football club”, yet your club is available to every person. How can you define yourselves?

Yes, our soccer club is released of this community that is LGBT. But we don’t ask people who wish to join us about their intimate orientation or identification. Possibly the definition that is best of Chrzaszczyki is a lady club with a lot of lesbian, bisexual, transgender womxn. Our exposure as a “lesbian” team is our governmental declaration in Polish homophobic society. It’s important however it’s perhaps perhaps maybe not our only objective.

Is the fact that why you call it soccer” that is“inclusive?

Our company is conscious that there are numerous barriers that are cultural prevent womxn from getting involved in the video game. Soccer is for example culturally considered an exclusively male discipline. We call our game soccer that is“inclusive because we you will need to address as numerous obstacles as you can to make our projects accessible. Though Polish culture is pretty homogenic with regards to competition, our LGBT+ community just isn’t, LGBT+ folks are various.

“Our visibility as a ‘lesbian’ team is our governmental declaration in Polish homophobic society. ” Credit: Julia Szablowska

Is it possible to expand about this?

Well, our tasks are often totally free, or have symbolic charges, to ensure that individuals of low income usually takes component. We don’t give attention to performance, nor competition: you want to produce an area where womxn of every age and of various cap ability, with or without sport experience may start their adventure with soccer. Numerous at our Academy are womxn that have perhaps perhaps perhaps not practiced any sport since their childhood and now have to construct from scrape their body that is basic coordination abilities. Moreover, some womxn in the community that is migrant need to work several jobs to create ends satisfy in Warsaw. This is the reason our trainings take a basis that is voluntary you don’t need to be here each week, it is possible to come, join and play whenever you want but still be person in the group. We additionally provide kid caring during trainings

You pointed out a few times your Academy. Is it possible to reveal more info on it?

In 2013, we began the Womxn’s Football Academy, a soccer school for adult womxn, meaning cis/trans, queer and non-binary individuals. The concept of our work is to generate a space that is safe womxn can exercise soccer, free from any kind discrimination where individuals can feel safe. We additionally arrange debates, movie screenings, exhibitions where we speak about our experience. We miss a solid anti-discrimination motion in Polish soccer. Yes, there’s an increasing motion and the specific situation of “women” in football is progressively visible within the news. But talks relate solely to “women” as a homogenic social team, to sexism and gender discrimination just. We take part in this motion, but we believe that the way that is only result in the game accessible is a wider, intersectional approach to deal with social obstacles and prejudices that induce systemic discrimination and exclusion.

“We additionally organize debates, movie tests, exhibitions where we speak about our experience. ” Credit: Julia Szablowska