The Warsaw-based Chrzaszczyki soccer club is well known as “Poland’s first lesbian football club”. This week, plus in light of Andrzej Duda’s re-election that is recent we’d the opportunity to talk to its founder, Italian-born Suzi Andreis, that has been residing and fighting for LGBT+ rights in Poland for over 2 full decades. She informs us about her work, her jobs along with her experience residing in Poland.
Hi Suzi, thank you for using the time and energy to respond to our concerns. First things first, limitations are gradually reducing up. Exactly exactly exactly just What was your experience through the pandemic?
Covid had an enormous effect in our task, we had to cancel our yearly Football Against Homophobia competition that was prepared for March 14. We’d and to stop our regular conferences of our Womxn’s Football Academy task. We been able to start training once more in the Academy at the start of but, so far, Covid limitations make it impossible to organize a tournament, which have all been cancelled june.
Strange times certainly. But let’s begin at the beginning. Exactly How did Chrzaszczyki Soccer Club begin?
C hrzaszczyki began very informally in the summertime of 1999. Within the LBT+ environment, several people in a lesbian subscriber list had the idea satisfy in a park in Warsaw, to blow some time together, also to play football. 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 made a decision to carry on.
“In the initial years, our definitive goal would be to produce an area for womxn into the LGBT+ community in Warsaw. ” Credit: Suzi Andreis
Just exactly exactly What occurred next?
In the 1st years, our absolute goal would be to produce an area for womxn when you look at the LGBT+ community in Warsaw. Games would happen on a regular foundation, they certainly were available (pickup), we barely ever played on a pitch that is real. The concern would be to produce a place where womxn that is non-heteronormative satisfy. Football had been a additional problem. But things changed in 2007 once we arranged our very first competition… and it had been a success! We then chose to concentrate on soccer, to build up being a team, not just as community of womxn.
You may be referred to as “Poland’s first lesbian football club”, yet your club is available to everybody else. How will you determine 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 sexual orientation or identification. Possibly the most readily useful meaning of Chrzaszczyki is a lady club with a lot of lesbian, bisexual, transgender womxn. Our presence as a “lesbian” team is our governmental declaration in Polish society that is homophobic. It is necessary however it’s maybe perhaps perhaps not our only objective.
Is the fact that why you call it soccer” that is“inclusive?
We’re conscious that there are many barriers that are cultural counter womxn from getting involved in the video game. Soccer is actually for example culturally considered a discipline that is exclusively male. We call our game “inclusive soccer” because we attempt to address as much obstacles that you can to create our projects accessible. Though Polish culture is pretty homogenic when it comes to competition, our community that is LGBT+ is, LGBT+ folks are various.
“Our visibility as a ‘lesbian’ team is our political declaration in Polish homophobic society. ” Credit: Julia Szablowska
Could you expand with this?
Well, our tasks are often totally free, or have fees that are symbolic making sure that individuals of low income usually takes component. We don’t concentrate on performance, nor competition: you want to produce a place where womxn of any age as well as various cap cap ability, with or without sport experience may start their adventure with soccer. Numerous at our Academy are womxn who’ve maybe not practiced any sport since their childhood and now have to construct from scrape their body that is basic coordination abilities. Also, some womxn inside the community that is migrant need to work a couple of jobs to help make ends satisfy in Warsaw. For this reason our trainings take a voluntary foundation, you don’t need to be here each week, it is possible to come, join and play whenever you want whilst still being be person in the team. We additionally provide kid caring during trainings
You pointed out a few times your Academy. Are you able to inform us more info on it?
A football school for adult womxn, meaning cis/trans, queer and non-binary people in 2013, we started the Womxn’s Football Academy. The thought of our tasks are to produce a safe room where womxn can exercise soccer, free from any style discrimination where individuals can feel safe. We asian sex web cam additionally arrange debates, movie screenings, exhibitions where we explore our experience. We skip a solid movement that is anti-discrimination Polish soccer. Yes, there’s an increasing motion and the problem of “women” in football is more visible within the news. But talks relate genuinely to “women” as a homogenic social team, to sexism and gender discrimination just. We be involved in this motion, but we believe that the way that is only result in the game accessible is a wider, intersectional approach to handle social obstacles and prejudices that result in systemic discrimination and exclusion.
“We additionally organize debates, movie tests, exhibitions where we speak about our experience. ” Credit: Julia Szablowska