Born in Krakow, “Arek” Moryto had his first professional contract at Lubin, then joined Kielce in 2018. “When I was a child, I had the dream to play in Kielce, and this dream came true. Now I am playing in one of the best teams in Europe, with some of the best players in the world,” he says with extreme pride, adding, “the team is like a family; we are together in bad times and better times. My teammates are not just colleagues, they are friends.”
Since his arrival, Kielce went all the way to Cologne three times, became five-time Polish champions and three-time Polish cup winners. “I just want to fight for the biggest things in handball – the trophies in Poland and in the EHF Champions League. We have everything you need to win everything, and I happy with that.”
In the previous season, Moryto’s club faced financial problems, a new name sponsor saved the club, then, long-term president Bertus Servaas stepped back after 21 years this summer. Which impact did that have on the team? No that much, says Moryto, “Me and my teammates can separate those things, we know what we are fighting for, we believe that everything will be fine. Finances are not our job. Our job is playing handball and to give 100 per cent.”
Almost all key players stayed in Kielce, but some stars such as Andreas Wolff, Haukar Thrastarson and Pawel Paczkowski are ruled out with injuries at the start of the season.
“They will get ready to help us. We still have a very strong team and we can still fight for the big titles,” says Moryto.
Kielce combine a quite international squad with players from almost 10 countries, and a Soviet-born coach with Kyrgyz roots and a Spanish passport, Talant Dujshebaev. “It is not a problem to communicate with the other players, as one of Talant’s rules is, that every new arrival in our team has to learn the Polish language as soon as possible. So from the beginning we have a good contact and communication with the new players,” says Moryto.
For him, the daily business with Dujshebaev is something special: “I love to work with Talant. After almost six years working with him and he can still surprise me. He finds the right motivation for every situation and every game of the season. He has so many different solutions, how to play. And outside the court he always likes to joke and to tell some funny stories.”