Football is a Family Affair for Kamil
|Kamil Gyzl represented Poland at the Homeless World Cup in Mexico in 2018. Image: Anita Milas
It’s 10 August 2013 in Poznan, Poland, and 48 countries have gathered to play in the 11th Homeless World Cup. Twelve-year-old Kamil Gzyl is excitedly running back and forth among the enthusiastic home crowd at the Lake Malta venue, trying to catch a glimpse of one very special player on the host team: his father.
Fast forward to a sweltering Friday in late November in the Zocalo, Mexico City, and the Polish players are giving their all on the pitch at this 16th edition of the tournament. The support is equally enthusiastic—and one particular player representing his country proudly clutches the Polish coat of arms emblazoned on his red jersey and allows himself a quiet moment of reflection as he leaves the pitch. That player is a 19-year-old Kamil Gzyl.
Inspiration for his participation doesn’t just come from his father, however—it’s generated from even further back within his family.
“I started to play football when I was a child at primary school, about seven,” Kamil explains. “It was because of my grandma, who enrolled me in a football school back home in Krakow.
“I became good and, when I was a teenager, I started to play with a team in Krakow. But they threw me out of the club when I became involved with drugs.
“My grandma never saw me at this stage, I made sure.”
Kamil’s gaze clouds over as he thinks back to a time where there were more important distractions in his life than giving his all on a football pitch.
“I got into drugs when I was 13 because of my friends,” he says quietly. “I was really young and I idolised these older guys around me that I hung out with. I wanted to be like them.
“Then I started to realise it didn’t work for them—or for me. It led to more issues. I was stealing and I had to make the ultimate decision. In a moment I realised I had to change my life or I would go to prison.
“It was my choice to stop taking drugs. I made the decision to change my life completely in that moment. I moved away from my home city of Krakow to Częstochowa, a smaller town about 150km away, to get away from everything.”
There Kamil sought help and chose to get involved in therapy, in a programme that lasted for eight months. It was through his rehabilitation programme that the opportunity arose for him to become involved with his beloved football again and link in to the selection programme for the Homeless World Cup.
“I couldn’t get involved in the Oslo tournament because I had just finished my treatment,” he adds. “So this past year has been very important for me because I was preparing myself to be here. I was practising, doing exercises, jogging and doing everything I could to be selected to be here.”
Of course Kamil already knew more than most about the Homeless World Cup from watching his father play. “My father was also involved in drugs, when he was 30,” he explains, “and it was through a drug programme that he became involved in the tournament in 2013. I remember enjoying the championship with him and the whole Polish team.
|Kamil Gzyl with his team at the Homeless World Cup in Mexico in 2018. Image: Anita Milas
“For me to be here is like a dream come true. I think every young person dreams about representing their country.
“Now I can look back to where I started and see how far I’ve come to be here now. I really feel good and I’m proud of myself.”
And what of grandma Gzyl, who arranged for his football training more than a decade ago?
Kamil smiles fondly. “My grandma is still alive, she’s really proud of me and we have a great relationship. Every time I go to Krakow I go to visit her and she’s really happy to see me. She’s supporting me playing here—she’s very proud.”
The physical journey of an over 20,000km round trip to represent his country may nearly be over but what about his personal journey—what are the hopes and dreams for Kamil back in Poland?
“When I get home I want to go back to school and finish my education. I want to learn and take the final exam and make myself better. And I know, without a doubt, I will continue to play football!” he grins.
Then his gaze mists over again. “What I’m dreaming about, though, is to have a family, have a happy family life and be a good father.”
The tournament motto in 2013 was ‘a ball can change the world’. In Mexico it’s ‘more than a game’.
For Kamil, and the hundreds of other players giving their all at the Zocalo, those sentiments have never rung so true.
Stowarzyszenie Reprezentacja Polski Bezdomnych (Polish Homeless National Streetsoccer Team Association) are our partner in Poland, find out how they’re using football to end homelessness and tackle social isolation.
Words: Isobel Irvine
Images: Anita Milas