I'm calling Jakub Janczy and in the pre-Easter mood I ask him: what's up?

And he responds that they've got a problem!

What problem? What's going on?

And he tells me that they have ONLY 9 tables in the club!

I begin to suspect that I don't understand.

It sometimes is like that in the old age. Jabłonka in Orawa is a small town, beautiful, but really small! Wonderful, but small, tiny even. What's the issue then? For your information, I don't know a club in Poland that has more than four tables. And they're saying nine is too few? What's happening?

It turns out that the situation concerning the virus has taken its toll. A positive toll! Youth from the tiny town has started looking for interesting activities. Primary school kids, high school teenagers. Then it turned out that they have an armwrestling club right around the corner. The club „Niedźwiedzie Orawy” has been here for years. For years it has placed in the Polish forefront, it regularly participates in the most important competitions. The founder, the competitor, the president and the trainer is Jakub Janczy. He also teaches Physical Education in Primary School no. 1 in the town. Everyone in the area knows about it but now, in the times of the pandemic, somehow the propaganda of his actions has gone even further. One found out from a brother, another from a neighbour and suddenly...

At the 21^st Polish Championships that took place in March 2021, the Niedźwiedzie team arrived with – ATTENTION! - forty competitors! A full bus.

They won the team general and junior rankings with a paralysing advantage over other clubs.

The championships broke records, and over there, in Orawa, the pressure on armwrestling is still strong!

Currently, according to Jakub Janczy, it looks like this:

Jakub Janczy:

Despite what is going on around us nowadays, the pandemic has brought our trainings to a whole new level! By the end of last year, we expanded the club's area by a few square meters and we've hit the jackpot, it seems. We have ONLY 9 tables and we're laughing that – like in a good restaurant – you have to book a table beforehand. We have plenty of arms for sparings too. The teenagers are really eager to participate in trainings. They have plans that include not only the club activities but also extra exercises at home.

Courtesy of the Principal's Office of Primary School no.1 in Jabłonka we've received a free access to a room where the club can create an environment for armwrestling trainings. Currently our club has 70 active members, and there's about 50-60 people at each training regularly.

What do you think about this sort of “problems”?

Do you have a club like this in your area?

If you do – please let me know!

Greetings

PeSzy