Chapter 01
From the playground tothe world stage
The true story of a boy from Poland who won over the world with his skills and now passes his knowledge to a new generation, looking for someone who will surpass him.
Poland · Belgium · the world
2001 — now
Prologue
My name is Mikita Cyprian and I am 27 years old. When I think about my life, I can't help but look back at the moments that shaped me into the person I am today. My greatest passions in life are street football, also known as panna, and freestyle football. These sports have not only made my dreams come true, but they have also deeply influenced my character and my way of thinking. They have made me not only physically stronger, but also mentally. Every trick I learn, every challenge I overcome, has brought me closer to my dream. It taught me to have perseverance and to never give up, no matter how difficult something seems.
In this story, I would like to share my journey with you. What you read here is 100% true, and I sincerely hope it inspires you to believe in yourself and turn your own dreams into goals. Because if I can do it, then I am sure that you can too!
2001
I was 5 years old. No computers, mobile phones or PlayStation era. That didn't exist back then. Certainly not for a young troll like me. What I did have was a lot of freedom and friends who lived just a few metres away. We played outside every day. One day, one of my friends asked a question that I have not forgotten to this day: "What is your dream?" Everyone started talking about their dreams, until it was my turn. I said with full conviction: "I want to become champion of Poland in a sport!" To my surprise, they laughed at me. "Seriously, guys, I want to be the best in a sport!" Deep down, I felt that this was something big, something unknown, something that would later become my goal in life. Although at that moment I didn't yet know in which sport.
A year or two later, everything changed. My mother and I moved to Belgium and my life was turned upside down. A new language, a new environment, a new school — everything was strange, everything was different. I had to leave my friends, acquaintances and family in Poland behind. I can't say that as a child I was truly sad about all those changes I had no control over. But that's just how it is. Let's make something of it, right!
2003/2004
School time. First grade. At the Dutch-speaking school, it wasn't easy. I couldn't speak Dutch, there were many different children which was totally different compared to Poland. But there was still something we all had in common. Everyone loved playing football, and I was the worst of all the students (at least that's how I felt). Nobody wanted me on their team, I was almost always picked last... No wonder. I wasn't even allowed to play on the main pitch because I wasn't good enough. This was a life lesson for me. That's when I understood that I had to improve myself. Otherwise, I would remain a failure for the rest of my life and never be allowed to play on the main pitch. And that became my obsession, my life goal. I wanted my classmates to let me play on the main pitch and to be valued by my friends from class. The following years, from first grade to third grade (ages 7 to 10), I was still too weak to compete with the best. Everyone was faster, stronger, more technically skilled, etc... Then students from Poland came to the school. They, like me, had moved to Belgium. I got to know them quite quickly. In the blink of an eye, they became my best friends. By playing with them, I began to understand what it meant to have a passion for a sport. They had the same aptitude for football as I did. So during every break, we always tried to play against each other and compete for the best Polish player at the school. I played more and more with them, both during the short and the long breaks. Breaks were a battle towards "getting better". Every day I dreamed only that this time would never end. The time I spent with them gave me nothing but great joy and a love for football.
~It is not easy to become the best, as most of you have probably already realised. There are thousands, perhaps millions of people who share the same dream. But in short, I can promise you that the one who has the strongest willpower and doesn't give up will make the dream come true!
2004-2008
Training
My school hours were Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 15:30. Even on Wednesdays I didn't finish classes until around 18:00 (sometimes Saturdays). Because my mother made me attend Polish school as well. Overall, it was difficult to train during the week since I attended both a Dutch and a Polish school. So that stood in the way of being able to train more. Not only did I have to study and do homework for the Dutch school, but also for the Polish school. BUT! At that moment I realised that at the other school (the Polish one) there were also breaks and there would be other "opponents" to play against. And I hoped I would be able to beat them on the pitch too! Otherwise I wouldn't be able to achieve my dream! In short, I was extremely busy during my school years. But my plans to become the best player at school slowly came together.
Hundreds, if not thousands of hours (after school and during) spent improving my technical skills ensured that I started winning against my peers. Litres of sweat showed for the first time the results of hard work. I could feel the difference in my own legs and their capabilities. During every break, we organised 1-on-1 duels or "free-for-all" matches ourselves. The goal for myself was: beat everyone. I couldn't afford a single defeat. It didn't matter if I was sick or having a bad day. I had to win every duel and show who was boss. At that time, I didn't know the word "give up"! The duels had one rule: we played to 3 or 5 goals. There were no fouls. So if someone pushed you over, you had to get up as quickly as possible and try even harder! That only made your mentality stronger. Whoever scored the agreed number of goals first won the duel and earned respect from the others. Winning against my peers was very satisfying, but I was missing many aspects that I saw in others. As a child, I wasn't as creative as some of my friends during the duels. I was also the one who often got 'panna'd'. That's why I sometimes lost too. After so many years of playing football, I developed these questions in my head and always apply them during the game:
1. Are you weaker than your opponent? Ask yourself the questions: What makes him better than you? How can you improve that quality in yourself? Which technique/aspect is a "counter" to his strong quality?
Anger, sadness, I had to process it by myself. In such cases, all I could do was get up, pull myself together and wait for a rematch. That way I got to know my emotions better. And next time, respond better. As a child, you learn a lot. That only makes you wiser, of course!
During my opponents' matches, I started memorising their movements. Then I tried to copy their dribbles and improve them afterwards. Every trick/move has a weakness. I just had to figure it out and create a counter for it. This is what has stayed with me to this day. Since I wasn't talented, but I did want to be the best, I had to spend a lot of time training. I had played at various clubs. But that wasn't enough! Independent training! That's what truly develops a player. Every player has a different talent. A different strong point. I had to start discovering those in myself. Because deep down I believed that focus and hard work on your own could make my dreams come true faster than only training at club sessions.
I challenged my friends and strangers at school for a game of football. After school hours, self-training in the park/squares/on the street after finishing my homework (to get some peace from my parents...) and usually alone. Starting to challenge strangers at squares. Playing against players who were 20 years older and certainly physically stronger than me. I then had to find a way to beat them. I loved that exciting feeling! That's how I spent thousands of hours or more outside with self-training! Watching videos on YouTube of the best street footballers and trying to replicate their skills outside until the moment I had perfected them. Otherwise, I wouldn't go home! Those were my daily goals!
And so, for years I kept at it with the same concept and improvements along the way!
2008/2009
Weekend! Together with my little brother and best friends, we went to "Park Spoor Noord". At 11/12 years old, I saw by chance for the first time a street football tournament 1-on-1, known as "Panna - Street Heroes". This was the moment that changed my life forever. I had never seen anything like it in real life! I was immediately hypnotised! Their fast and agile movements, the combinations, panna's that I couldn't have imagined — that you could control the ball like that or get around an opponent like that... Professional players, trophies, podiums... And suddenly something sprouted in my mind. It was almost indescribable. I heard in my head: "I want to stand on the podium", "I want that biggest trophy", etc... But of course, at that moment these were just fantasies. I stood by one of the panna courts and admired how the best players played. Until the world champion asked me during a break in the tournament to play against him. Just randomly. He challenged various people and this time it fell on me. That's when I stood face to face for the first time with the best player in the world, whom I had just watched on YouTube the day before. I was extremely excited but also scared. After three seconds, I felt the difference in level between us. In short, I didn't stand a chance. I wasn't even in possession of the ball for five seconds. He took the ball from me in the blink of an eye. The opponent started dancing with the ball in such a way that everyone along the court cheered in admiration of the beauty of his style.
And suddenly "Panna"!!! "When? Where? How?" These are the questions I ask myself to this day. I lost and had to leave the court. Of course, it was just a friendly match, but I took it seriously. At that moment, I realised that I still had a long way to go to be able to beat a player of that level.
After such a motivation boost, I started training even harder! Even more! ALONE, every day, until my legs started giving in. Sometimes to the point where I got cramps in my legs. That's how long and intensely I trained. Anyone who trains like that knows what real training is! I could wring the sweat out of my t-shirt by the bucket. On Wednesdays, when school ended at 12:00 (Polish school on Saturday), I could train alone for up to 6 hours after school to master one trick, combination or panna. During the training sessions, all I thought about was the moment I would go to training again the next day and the fact that I had played against the world champion in "Panna" that day in the park. I felt incredibly excited. I lost by a large margin, but that meant something, right? That my skills were far from perfect. This was like an awakening for me. I swore then that I would never get a "panna" again. I wanted to become impenetrable and unbeatable. At home. In the evening, 'click' — YouTube on, I held my old "Sony Ericsson K310i" against the screen, turned on the recording function and filmed tricks. Then, when I went to practise, I played back the recorded footage and tried to imitate what they did in the video. I couldn't give up and had to keep practising until I had learned it.
Are you wondering why I didn't train with friends and analyse the videos together? My friends didn't always have the time or the desire to go training with me straight away, so I had to search for an alternative opponent. A robot? A pole? No! At that moment, my first fictional opponent for my self-training sessions became... "a chair". Yes, a chair, on which I practised tricks. Creativity knew no bounds in my mind! When I later went to play on the pitch with my friends, it turned out that my training with the chair had a super amazing effect. Suddenly, nobody stood a chance against me. I went around opponents like cones in a slalom, I could run from one goal to the other, get past everyone twice and even score. From the worst player at school, I became one of the best. Suddenly I was allowed to play on the main pitch with the school champions. In short, I became the best player at school. "Goal achieved!", I shouted in my head! Finally!
Days, months, years passed by like that...
When I played on the school yard, I no longer felt any competition... Even the teachers, who had their own school team, didn't stand a chance against me on the pitch. Technically, I was unbeatable. I had to look for tougher opponents!
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2010
When I turned 13, there was nothing left to find at school in terms of skills and opponents. I decided to become the best player of the "City of Antwerp"! That was my new goal! It started with travelling by metro to other neighbourhoods of Antwerp, to take on new players from different squares I had never visited.
"Ahoy, adventure"
Because what could possibly go wrong? Right? New experiences, new players, on the pitch with the ball and that ball feeling, which was increasingly becoming one with me, that feeling of freedom as if I was "flying", while the stress and problems of life started to disappear at that moment. I learned from others and saw so much that was new. The number of hours I spent on my self-development was so enormously large that few children my age could handle it. I only felt a challenge against players who were older than me. But that only made me better! That was my intention! Through these "trips", I collected many smiles, great comments and met many interesting players. Try to imagine how positively this develops you as a player and as a person.
For a number of years, together with friends and alone, I visited all the squares in Antwerp. TRAINING, TRAINING and once more TRAINING!
2013
The year of social media! In this year, I started posting my tricks and learned "panna's" on Instagram/Facebook for the first time. This way, I got to know new people, new players from different corners of the world, trained with more experienced players, exchanged experiences and ideas, and all of this thanks to the internet. Back then, the internet was very positive! In addition, I learned a lot of new panna tricks.
I should add here that the level of content on the internet today is enormously greater than it was back then. So you have to imagine that there were almost no videos of panna and street football technique like we can find around every corner today. No tutorials, no YouTubers, vlogs, technique coaches... So you had to train by yourself and learn and create everything on your own!
I was sitting in my room. Suddenly, I received a message from the reigning champion of Poland in 1-on-1. He invited me to the official championship of Poland in "Panna 1-on-1" in Żerków. However, there was one problem. I wasn't yet an adult, so I couldn't travel such distances alone (1200km+/-). I remember it as if it were yesterday. I begged my father to come with me, although he never believed I would win. He made that very clear to me. He kept repeating that "it wasn't worth going". Yet he had never seen me play, while I had been practising panna for four years. He said that everyone would be older and stronger and that I would certainly lose. I remember how sad I felt at that moment. Tears were already around the corner. Although I felt sadness inside, I thought: "You will regret those words". But on the outside, I only tried to get him to come with me to my dream tournament that I had been invited to. That was the only thing that mattered to me.
4 July 2013. It happened! I am at my first championship of Poland! It turned out that it wasn't just a panna 1-on-1 tournament, but also a "Freestyle Football" tournament. For the first time, I saw so many players in one place in Poland. With skills so good that anyone who loved football would fall in love with it all over again! At that moment, I decided that I would start training "Freestyle football".
My "Panna" competition started. Warm-up... Bam, my first match! I won my first match in less than a minute. My father, who had been sceptical the entire trip, couldn't believe what he saw. Match after match, I won by giving my opponent a "panna". That's how I reached the top of the rankings. The final! I played the final against JBK. A top groundmover at that time! But the final was mine!
Won!
I want to add a line here and thank "Ryhu" for inviting me back then! At 16 years old, I officially became panna champion of Poland and additionally achieved 4th place in a "Groundmove" competition! At that moment, I realised my dream from when I was a child. Who would have thought?! I won the championship of Poland, and my father felt proud of his son for the first time. The feeling that someone finally saw my hard work was indescribable. I always wanted to do something that would make my father proud of me. But although both my mother and my father only saw me play once in my entire career, I couldn't let that hold me back. I had to overcome the thought that I was alone everywhere. After that, all I heard was how my mother or father talked about me with pride behind my back. If you've made it this far reading, thank you and I'm glad it has interested you! And don't forget, it doesn't matter whether someone is watching or not. Follow your dream, turn it into goals and work hard so you can be proud of yourself in the future! Not many people experience this feeling! But if you achieve it, you will have no regrets later! And you will feel fulfilment.
This changed a lot in my adventure.
2014
Shortly after the championship, I noticed an announcement for the "Street Heroes" tournament in Belgium. Yes, the same tournament where a few years earlier I had played as a spectator against the best player in the world. This was my second serious 1-on-1 tournament I signed up for: "Street Heroes Antwerp". Out of an estimated hundred players, I managed to reach the final. My opponent was a year older than me and was significantly stronger. His legs were also enormously strong and fast. That scared me. Everything about him was different from what I had expected. That's when I felt "stress" for the first time. Every one of you has probably experienced that, so you know how unpleasant that feeling can be. Imagine that feeling, times a hundred. That's how I felt at that moment. Hundreds of people watched our final. The mayor, professional futsal players... For the first time, I felt that this was what I had always dreamed of and that I had a chance. The final started and it became 4-4 after 3 minutes (in short: The duel lasts 3 minutes, if you perform a panna on your opponent = "Knock Out"). I gave more than 100% of myself then. After that, we had to play a 1-minute extension. The extension ended 2-2. Fatigue, legs like lead, but I kept repeating: "just hold on a little longer"! After the extension came the decisive moment. "Golden goal" or "Panna" ends the game! The ball was won by my opponent. I didn't give in and fought through to the end. After a few moves, I managed to take the ball away and score the decisive goal! That's how I won the final of Street Heroes in Antwerp 2014. At that moment, I felt an enormous relief. It was the first time I experienced that feeling. I can't describe it. Because it really is impossible to honestly describe it. That feeling is that incredible.
If you truly want to know how I felt then, achieve what I have achieved and start working hard on yourself by training intensively (NOW I can even help you with that)! There is no shortcut to that feeling! After Antwerp, it was time to compete elsewhere. The next tournament on my list was Street Heroes in Brussels. It was a long time ago, but I remember three specific moments from that tournament.
1. I played against one of the real old-school stars of street soccer "panna" and met the then current vice world champion in freestyle football (2012), with whom I had the chance to freestyle a bit and talk.
2. When I was surprised with a panna at the tournament! Yes, I got panna'd at a tournament. It was a very strong move that I still use to this day, because it's such a powerful move! You'll definitely learn this panna if you come to my lessons!
3. Achieving third place in all of Belgium in Panna Street Heroes! Super happy with myself! Made the podium!
After such an exhausting tournament, I didn't wait — I signed up for the next one: "Street Heroes Bruges". There were far fewer participants, but I took part. It was the first time my mother saw me play live. It felt a bit strange, because up until that point my mother had never seen me play football. It seemed as if she wasn't interested in what I did, at least that was my impression. Well, I can't force anyone, can I? Which parent would just sit for hours watching their child train, play a match or participate in a tournament? And you, do you have someone like that?
If not, welcome to my world, and if you do have someone, then you have more than you can probably understand at this moment, because this will mean a lot to you in the future. Appreciate it and enjoy these moments! The tournament in Bruges was for U16 players. I reached the final. The level wasn't like in Antwerp or Brussels, so I won't go into detail here. I achieved first place! What was most important to me at that moment was that my mother saw my hobby for the first time and saw how I played! Besides that, I also made a little video of that day + after the tournaments I continued training on my local square against various people! I even recorded one of my first videos of myself back then. Take a look! The first victories, the first trophies, a distinction from the mayor of the city, my photo in the newspaper and my first earned money. At school they all congratulated me, everyone wanted me on their team... The feeling was simply like a fairy tale, indescribable!
The year didn't end there! I went for the second time with my family to "Freestival Football Żerków 2014", the Polish championship in Panna 1vs1 and the groundmoves competition. Reuniting with all panna/freestyle friends was truly the best! Well, with a bit of stress I must say.
1. To defend my title this time!
2. To improve in the groundmoves competition from last year (4th place)
First we had the "groundmoves" competition. The previous year I had achieved 4th place. But this time it was different! I hadn't sat still the past year and trained every day to show a better performance this time. 2014! I won the groundmoves competition! Goal achieved!
Now it was time for PANNA!
In short, the final put me under enormous pressure. In an instant I forgot every trick and combination; my mind went blank. Even so, I managed to defend my title!
2015
I participated in "Freestival Football Żerków 2015 - Polish Panna Championship". I still remember this tournament to this day. There were certainly more than a hundred participants, maybe close to 200. "Panna" was so popular that year that everyone wanted to try their luck. The tournament started, I still remember, kick-off was around 14:00. From my first match, I had to wait almost 1 to 2 hours before I could play again. There were so many participants. It was exhausting because you didn't know when it would be your turn. So you always had to be ready and stay well warmed up. That was the biggest challenge. Match after match, 16:00, 18:00, 22:00, midnight... finally, I made it to the final!!! The final was played around 2 o'clock in the morning. Imagine how much we had to wait, play and be ready to hold out until that time. The level was also considerably higher than the previous year. I remember getting a cramp in one of my legs before the final. That was what I was afraid of. My legs were losing strength. I was scared that my legs wouldn't let me play at the desired level in the final. But I still managed to make it to the final and win! I was able to defend the title once again!
"Polish Panna Challenge Grodzisk Mazowiecki 2015". Normally I wouldn't have been at that tournament, but I spontaneously decided to participate. Why wouldn't I have been there? Because I had to go back to Belgium for school. But I was able to move my departure and took the train to Grodzisk. Ahoooy, tournament! I arrived and the atmosphere was next level! Here you can watch my final! That year I ended with three victories in Poland! What a year!
Three?
Oh yes! I was able to compete in a third tournament in Poland, in Lublin! I came back to Poland especially for that! On the last day of my holiday in Poland, I participated in the tournament in Lublin. All I remember is that the trophy was one of the most unusual trophies I had ever seen in my life! So I tried extra hard to win it! BAM! The final was mine!
2016
At the beginning of 2016, I had already filled my calendar with various tournaments!
The Polish Championship Panna 1vs1 2016. It's not always as beautiful as it seems. I was 18/19 years old at the time. Maintaining my title was the most important thing to me. I stepped off the plane, took the bus, ran straight to the tournament. I was just in time, had no time to warm up and it was already my turn to play the match. I made it to the semi-final. My legs were so heavy, uncomfortable and tired that I couldn't cope. If my memory serves me right, I lost right in the semi-final. I ran out of the hall to my room, to my bed, and tears of sadness started streaming down my face. I am grateful to everyone who comforted me at that moment. There were so many negative emotions in me that I couldn't calm myself down. Until I suddenly heard through the microphone that they were calling me to play the 3rd place match. I didn't go. I gave up that match. I asked myself: "If I beat him, will I be satisfied?" The answer was: "No." Try to understand me — whether I won or lost, it wouldn't make a difference to me anymore. That's why I wanted my colleague to achieve a podium finish for the first time in his life in the panna 1vs1 category. And so it happened. His smile the next day, during the awards ceremony, was a comfort to me. At the same time, it was a lesson for me not to give up and to keep training in what I love the most. I made the best of the rest of the tournament. In the video you can see how enjoyable such a tournament was! I came back from the tournament and had to refocus on self-improvement. Because otherwise I would keep losing...
A few months later, the "FreestyleFootball Ranks" online world championship took place. This was a "Freestyle Football" online tournament. I started training this sport around 2012/2013. Because of that, my panna level dropped somewhat to achieve something in this sport. I fell in love with the sport after the tournament in Żerków 2013. In short: whoever shows the best tricks wins. Anyone from around the world could participate. So I signed up. The online tournament worked by sending a 5-second clip to the organiser ("FreestyleRanks") via email. The website showed a bracket with who played against whom. Then player 1 and his opponent sent in their 5-second videos, and the organiser edited these together and posted them on Instagram. I really wanted to win to get as many followers on Instagram as possible. The quarter-final, semi-final, and suddenly I was in the final. I qualified solely because of my strong creative clips. Creativity was my strong suit! The final was very exciting! What I had prepared for the final was something that nobody at that moment could have pulled off.
I won!
Through this tournament, I raised my own bar in freestyle football. Every subsequent training session, I raised my bar higher and higher! At that moment, I felt unstoppable again! Dozens, if not hundreds of hours spent outside in the winter, working on improving my videos and tricks. Super motivated! All just to somehow stand out. I was incredibly proud! Thanks to that combination and the people's votes, I won "Freestyleranks 2016"! After that, I didn't really train the sport of 'panna' anymore, because I was focused on freestyle football. In my eyes, this sport had more to offer than panna at that time.
In addition, I had a wonderful time in Madrid, Spain. Among others, I got to play a mini battle with one of the future Red Bull world champions of 2019 and spend time with Madridistas! All super nice guys! Here I'm sharing a video of my freestyle football/panna trip to "Spain - Madrid".
Besides that, I spent a lot of time training, performing and giving workshops. Discovered a piece of Europe including England, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Malta, Greece. I also received an award from the city during the sports laureate ceremony and made lots of videos! Take a look!
2017
After years of training panna and freestyle football, I started giving bigger performances. I won't mention the small performances because I've certainly done more than 100+. But I would like to share the very best ones with you!
Brussels. Between the rappers' performances, I had the honour of standing on the same stage alongside "Kaliber 44", "DonGóralesko", "Hades". These are Polish hip-hop legends. Backstage there was a buffet and funny conversations. We took a photo together to capture this moment in a photo and a video.
On another day, I gave a performance in Kraśnik (Poland), where many young people came to watch me and afterwards the parents went to see OSTR. After me, O.S.T.R. stood on the same stage. We gave each other a high five, had a moment of positive conversation, and that's how I got to know some of the biggest stars of Polish hip-hop. A moment to remember! It was a year full of fun!
Also this year, I made a video that was viewed more than 20 million times. I was the first person to give a panna to an animal. It might not seem like a big deal, but the funny reactions and positive messages were enormous, and the increase in followers on Instagram was impressive!
In addition, I also started making panna tutorials in Polish. You don't really need to understand them to watch. What matters is how I show everything. I show everything from my perspective. Which makes it easier to learn everything!
Besides the videos and performances, this year I also experienced two or three unforgettable moments at tournaments. The first was in July, a few days before my birthday. I participated in the world championship panna 3vs3 and the freestyle football street games tournament, organised in Poland (Grodzisk). An amazing atmosphere, the people, the beautiful weather, the sun. Nothing more, nothing less. We achieved third place at this World Championship. In the match for third place, I eliminated the opposing team by giving them a panna. The bronze medal was ours! Made the podium! Met new faces with whom I keep in touch to this day! And in the freestyle tournament, I reached the quarter-final, which I was very pleased with. Because Poland at that time had some of the best players in the world. So the trip was a success!
A few months later... 29 December 2017. New Year's. Another tournament for the Polish cup, "Panna 1vs1". In this tournament, I pulled off what is probably my most famous and most beautiful panna. This panna beautifully flew across the internet world in the following days! I hadn't expected it myself! I finished this tournament in first place. It was probably my favourite year in life! Unbelievable! I couldn't have ended this year better.
For the rest of the year, I definitely kept training and made some videos where I spent time with young people!
2018
After winning various panna tournaments and Polish championships multiple times, I received an invitation from Denmark for their world championship panna 1vs1, PannaHouse 2018. What I remember from that tournament is that I won my group and reached the top 16. In the top 16, I lost my match. I lost it on goals. My opponent only played for goals and didn't play for panna at all; he didn't even make a single dribble. I had the ball for 2.5 minutes, he only had it for about 30 seconds. And how do you think I lost? Exactly! Every time my opponent had the ball, he got extremely lucky (in my opinion) and kicked it directly at my goal, and wonder of wonders, he kept hitting the goal! Well, that's how it goes sometimes. You can't always win everything. After adding up the points and goals, I officially finished in 9th place in the panna 1vs1 world championship! I was still happy that I had at least made it into the top 10 in the world. The rest of the days in Denmark, I spent exploring Copenhagen and its wonderful places!
The time had come... After so many tournaments, I decided to stop competing in tournaments. At some point, the stress for every upcoming tournament started building up in my body. It wasn't a good feeling; I became physically and mentally ill. It wasn't healthy. That's why I stopped participating in tournaments. I had achieved everything I wanted to achieve in my life, except for the Red Bull Street Style Belgium Championship (a freestyle football tournament organised by Red Bull). But well, it was nothing that would keep me awake at night, I thought at the time.
Antwerp. 22 January. I got to perform in the centre of Royal Antwerp FC (Jupiler League) in Belgium. During the final no less! Here's a video I made of that day!
Poland. 14 February. I was asked to give a performance at one of the schools. Of course I accepted! It was a spontaneous success, a show I will never forget. Why? Because that day I was the first to give a triple panna in the world!
Merksem, 20 May. I had a nice performance where I was able to show a triple around-the-world in one go for the first time!
Antwerp, 31 May and Brussels 3 June. I gave the Polish clubs in Belgium unforgettable performances!
Spontaneously on 1 July, I made the decision to move to Malta! Just out of nowhere! I wanted to give myself a challenge. Move to a place where I didn't know anyone and throw myself into the deep end. Because of that, I gained incredibly many beautiful memories, and a fun anecdote. I didn't want to use my own money, so I decided to do street performances (panna and freestyle football), with which I was able to earn hundreds of euros in 2 hours. How? I made a sign that read: '5 euro = Panna match, winner gets 200 euro'. That attracted many people! Everyone naturally wanted to seize their chance for that 200 euro. But nobody managed to panna me. That way I could put some money aside. And so for weeks I did street freestyle performances! Until one time when the police started walking in my direction. Luckily I only got a warning. Phew! Besides football, I discovered a new hobby: photography and filmmaking! That gave me many new possibilities that I could later combine with football.
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2019
From 2018 onwards, I hadn't been training competitively. In 2019, I wasn't training freestyle football and panna anymore.
Until one day, a friend sent me a message a week or two before a tournament, asking if I wanted to participate. At first, I refused to take part in this tournament. It was "Red Bull Street Style Belgium". Why? Because I knew what format they already had in Belgium. I was very disappointed about this. It isn't organised in the same fair and positive way as in other countries (for example in Poland). A lot of fraud and theft (I'll come back to this later). Eventually, he convinced me to participate after all. At that moment, I had two big problems. To participate, you needed two simple things: shoes and a ball. But I had neither. My shoes were very bad, and when doing tricks there was a big chance of spraining my ankle, because the sole was very thick and I couldn't feel the surface and the ball properly. The ball I had to use had a broken valve, which meant the air was slowly escaping. But I said to myself: "Whatever will be, will be". The big day came. Red Bull Street Style 2019 in Brussels. I arrived at the venue. My attitude: sceptical and uninterested. I was not prepared and not motivated. But I bit my lip and put my feelings aside. The tournament was in October and I remember that year I had maybe 2 or 3 random training sessions. So as you can hear, I was not at all prepared for this tournament compared to others. The warm-up started, as the tournament was about to begin. I started warming up backstage. I left my backpack with my stuff and camera behind me. While warming up, I suddenly noticed in the corner of my eye someone starting to move my bag. I knew I had to be extra careful that day. I turned around and ran towards my bag, because a crouching guy was apparently planning to steal my backpack. Luckily he didn't succeed and he fled. Then I took my things and moved to a safer spot. The tournament started. My shoes and the ball weren't cooperating. I couldn't utilise my full potential, and that frustrated me enormously. I finished the qualification round in 2nd place. That's how the top 16 was formed and the competition started. I managed to win the top 16 round. Then the quarter-final = won. The semi-final = won. And suddenly I was in the final. At that moment I asked myself: "How did I get here?" I played the final against someone with whom I had been able to play a friendly match as a child at the Street Heroes tournament in the park, which I then remembered for the first time. I officially lost the final because the ball dropped three times during a trick ("SZATW ng" — name of the trick). I really wanted to perform it. Only on the fourth attempt did it work. But it was already too late. After the match, I walked up to the head ref and asked him if I would have won the match if the ball hadn't dropped so many times. His answer was quick, short and decisive: "Yes". When I heard that, I felt relief. I think you understand why. The person who became my opponent when I was 10 years old became someone I could beat 10-11 years later. Years of training finally showed that it was worth it! After this tournament, it turned out that I would be allowed to represent Belgium at the big Red Bull world championships in Miami, America. Red Bull sponsored my flight, hotel, transport, money and all sorts of other things.
2020-Nu
The worst of the worst, or was it? Unfortunately, the pandemic in 2020 slowed down my plans. All tournaments and performances were cancelled. This period lasted quite a long time for everyone. Many players stopped training "Freestyle football" and "Panna". I was one of those people. During the pandemic, I didn't know what I wanted to achieve further in life. Because I had reached my life goals, a new goal was missing. So I started the boring adult life. Work, home, work... years flew by in the blink of an eye. And just like that, the pandemic also passed! Then I started collaborating with the city to give panna and freestyle football workshops in Antwerp. It wasn't widely announced, but still a few students came to my lessons. After that, I started giving private lessons. One on one. That's when I realised my next goal in life: that one of my students should one day be able to beat me fair and square. And so, with years of experience and listening to my students, my idea, my website and my teaching concept were born. I want to pass on my knowledge, which I have gathered over the years, in a 100% honest and genuine way. Without secrets, with joy and full commitment. I never had a coach who had achieved something in the past, and I had no one who wanted to explain anything about how and what. I was completely on my own. That's why I had to experiment and learn from my mistakes. If my experience helps my students develop faster, then so be it! That's why I enjoy listening to older people and their stories and mistakes every day. That way I can avoid the same mistakes and make the best of it in my own life. In doing so, I found my own life motto: "There are always two choices." My dream NOW is that at least one of my students beats me, before I start walking with a cane of course! If you beat me, you have the chance to achieve everything I have achieved!
From child to champion to your trainer — that was and is my path.
