Common goals craft Kata’s future
By her own admission, Kata - striker, sometimes goalie and captain of Finland Women for their tournament opener - was something of a handful as a youngster. “I was always active, doing all kinds of wild stuff, quite energetic - a bit hard core for my parents to manage,” she laughs.
“I often got into trouble and my home environment wasn’t so good but I used to ski and run. My grandfather used to train me - I entered competitions for about four years - but then I stopped everything and did no sports for seven years.”
It wasn’t injury, however, that turned her active life around. It was the discovery of a new, darker way of life.
“I began to focus on more negative things, dropped out of school, became involved with the wrong people and the wrong substances,” she says.
“When I was living that different life I felt bad, hopeless - like the path of life I was on was leading only to the end of my life.
“I felt I lived the first 20 years of my life thinking only of my death.”
There was no dramatic event that turned her face back to the sun, however; it was more of a gradual realisation of the damage she was doing to her body and mind. “Not exercising, not doing good things for myself meant my whole world was deteriorating and I slowly realised I wanted to build hope for a better future.
“When you’re in that negative situation you think that’s it - you can never imagine yourself coming out of it. As I started to get well, I began to feel a hope that I could live a better, normal life and I began to get back into sport.”
Kata ‘found’ football through attending NA (Narcotics Anonymous) groups who had links to Homeless Academy Association, the country’s football project established in 2006 which co-ordinates activities with other social agencies.
Her association with football came two and a half years ago when she started playing to overcome the obstacles in her life - “Though I kicked a ball around as a child, in break time at school, when the boys were playing and I went to join them,” she adds.
“Getting involved in the Association, and my team KRIS Tampere, wasn’t like group therapy, but more that you need other people who understand you, who have gone through the same things as you and you have the common goal of bettering yourself to get back into a normal life.
“I liked the people there - I’d never played a team sport before so that was really fun. Also, all of a sudden, I could run to a bus stop with no problem,” she grins. “Now I’ve started going to the gym and doing lots of fitness things. I have a lot of hobbies but this is the first sport.”
It’s also her first involvement with Homeless World Cup and the magnitude of the occasion was not lost.
“The parade was really amazing, I couldn’t stop smiling, and in the back of my mind I realised this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s my only chance to be here so I’m cherishing this as much as I can.
“Standing in line for our first game was amazing - I’ve been practicing singing our national anthem since I joined this team - and in our first match against Poland I had the privilege to be captain, and I scored a goal.
“It’s really good to have so many countries here - some I didn’t even know existed before - seeing their different cultures, dancing and music.”
So what about life after the final whistle in Oslo? Football will still figure largely, and Kata already has plans to join a women’s team. She has also restarted her education and is studying for a degree in sewing/textile arts, with the aim of launching her own clothing brand.
“I want to design, make and sell streetwear,” she explains, “in fact I already run a little crochet business selling online [check out puikottaja on Insta!] and at markets. It would be cool to crochet little footballs - maybe I’ll start a new line!”
Words by Isobel Irvine | Photo by Anita Milas