30 August 2026, Pińczów (Poland) — The final whistle of this year’s Game with Mum & Dad programme in Poland was blown in Pińczów on 30 August.
Organised by Małopolskie Stowarzyszenie Probacja in cooperation with Pińczów Prison, with support from the Świętokrzyski Football Association in Kielce, the event brought 18 children and 11 imprisoned fathers together for an afternoon of games.
For children, seeing their fathers involved in the game offered a different way of spending time together: not simply sitting across from one another during a visit, but sharing an activity, cheering each other on and being part of the same team.
Seweryn Sosień, a member of the Board of the Świętokrzyski Football Association, led the warm-up and refereed the match. At the end, he took on one more role — goalkeeper — as the children lined up to take part in a penalty shoot-out.
Over four hours, the afternoon moved between football, conversations and other activities. The sunny weather meant that families could stay outdoors, giving the day a more natural setting beyond the match itself.
Refreshments were also part of the afternoon. Piekarnia Gala, the local bakery, provided sweet yeast pastries and cakes, gaving everyone the chance to refuel after the sporting activities.
For the fathers taking part, the difference between this kind of meeting and a regular prison visit was particularly clear.
“Meetings like this are very different from regular visits. There is more space and more time. The kids are very happy, and so are we as parents. I hope there will be more initiatives like this.”
The Pińczów event marked the end of the 2026 edition of Game with Mum & Dad in Poland. Across the programme, football and other activities have provided opportunities for imprisoned parents and their children to spend time together outside the usual context of imprisonment.
In Pińczów, as in the other events, the GWMD football match provided a starting point. What mattered was everything that happened around it: the child-parent conversations, the encouragement from the sidelines, the bonds that were strenghtened.
