Andrey Kuklin is a master of sports in football (among the sightless) and also the captain of the Moscow football club, singer and song writer, a TikToker whose videos gained millions of views.
Special View portal correspondent Vladimir Vaskevich interviewed him about his hobbies, motivation and his experience of taking part in a talent show at Pyatnitsa TV Channel.
Fell In Love With Football On A Visit To His Grandfather
Andrey Kuklin lives in Moscow, he is 21 years old. He successfully graduated from a vocational college and is now a student at Physical Education and Sport facultyat Russian State Social University. His day is tightly scheduled: studying, training, side gigs, more training and recording his own songs at a studio.
You will be even more impressed with Andrey’s schedule and workloads when you learn that he is totally sightless, that he moved to Moscow only a few years agobut now can easily handle any difficulties.
“I used to live in Mari El Republic. Once as a little boy I went to visit my grandfather. He asked me if I wanted to watch football with him. It was a very exciting game of the Russian Championship. I was totally absorbed by the intense emotions of the match, and I got very passionate about this ball game. I was five at that time,” Andrey remembers.
Up until 6 years of age he used to retain 70% eyesight of one eye. But after an unsuccessful operation he totally lost his eyesight. Minor light perception was all he had now.
“I was small at that time, and the understanding of becoming blind didn’t hit me as much as it would have done if I lost my eyesight as an adult. Practically nothing changed in my childhood hobbies. I played with my friends in the yard, kicked the ball about and spent most of my time outdoors. And for this I must thank my Mum who did everything that was possible to make my life at this difficult period practically ordinary and filled with memorable events,” Andrey says.
At 13, while studying at a school for the sightless and visually impaired, Andrey first heard about football for the sightless. He learned that there were special competitions and championships, and the best players performed at the Paralympic Games.
At first, an assistant head coach of Mari El select team came to his school to help develop the football for the blind there. The first training sessions started. In time, the head coach Nikolay M. Kutuzov noted Andrey’s potential and invited him to join the adult team training sessions.
“Of course, at first we lost several games, because other teams had been training a lot and for a long time. But this didn’t stop me or my teammates. We doubled our training efforts, started going to training camps and in time proved that our team had all the chances to win any game,” the sightless football player says.
Audio description: a collage made of two colored photos. The photo on the left shows a gloomy winter day. Andrey is sitting beside a lake or a river and smiling.He is wearing dark glasses, a white knitted hat and a black and white sports jacket with a panda print. The photo on the right depicts a summer day. Andrey is standing in a football field taking off a massive black mask. He is smiling widely.The young man is wearing a white and blue football uniform. There is an emoji between these two pictures: a smiling yellow face with red hearts around it.
On Russia’s Select Team And Moving To Moscow
Andrey’s success was noticed in Moscow, and he was offered to move to the capital to train and study further. The teenager agreed, and having completed the tenth grade, he packed his suitcases, boarded a train and went to find his luck in the capital.
“I didn’t feel much fear, it was more like anticipation. What’s more, I clearly understood what the goal of this step was: I was moving to Moscow to keep perfecting my football skills, to build my career and of course to get an education.My Mum came with me. She always supports me. It was she who helped me adapt to the life in a new city,” Andrey says.
In the capital, Andrey was accommodated in a dormitory. He lived there together with other sightless athletes. Thus began new training sessions and the new life he had to get used to. The young man liked the rhythm of the big city, although at first he had difficulties, especially in finding his way around the streets, metro lines, Moscow Central Circle and Moscow Central Diameters. But Andrey soon found the swiftest way to change the situation.
“In order to learn to get about all these metro lines and feel confident at least in my own neighborhood and in the center of the city, I got a job as a delivery man. Why not? This is definitely the fastest way to study the city thoroughly. I used to contact my employer mostly through the app and the messenger, so for a long time nobody knew that I was sightless. But the customers were pretty surprised to see their package delivered by a sightless person. I went to all kinds of places and delivered all kinds of stuff: clothes, documents, food, even a steering wheel. There was an occasion when I had to deliver a funeral urn to an unfamiliar neighborhood late in the evening. It was late, even a bit creepy. But I achieved my goal: I managed to get acquainted with the major roads and transport nodes pretty quickly,” says Andrey.
In 2018, Andrey and other sightless athletes from Russian regions formed the backbone of the new Moscow team, and Alexander S. Makhov became its coach.From the very start the team began winning top places at championships and Russian football cups.
Russia’s select team, where Andrey had been invited to play at 15, was also doing well. The young sightless athlete began regularly going to sport camps and participated international competitions in Japan, Italy, and Turkey.
“In 2019, I took part in my first World Cup in Rome. At that time our select team held the European Champion status, but we did not get out of the group.Nevertheless, I was totally overwhelmed with the experience and the impressions I got at a championship of such a level, of playing with the world’s greatest masters of football for the blind. At the moment, because of the pandemic and other difficulties, we are not taking part in international championships, but we keep training most intensively. This year our Moscow team won the Russian cup and the youth championship, and I was recognized as the best scorer of both championships,” says the athlete.
On His Creative Works And The Success In TikTok
In addition to training and studying, Andrey is trying to develop his skills in other spheres. As a schoolboy, Andrey learned to play the guitar. And from that time he regularly makes cover videos to the songs of famous musicians. His works were noticed on the Internet. His best clips won prizes in talent competitions. There was a period when the young man and his friends were playing music in Moscow streets. And one time when the band was playing Sansara by Basta, a Russian rapper, the author himself was passing by and walked up to talk to them.
“During the pandemic we happened to be at a sport camp in Sochi. We had to stay in our hotel rooms for a long time. We had very few training sessions, lived one person per room, the food was brought to us, and we couldn’t go out. I felt utterly bored, I didn’t know how to entertain myself, because I was fed up with the TV and gadgets, and you cannot do physical exercises all day long. Then I decided to try and write my first song, and it turned to be good,” the sightless athlete says.
When the team came back to Moscow, Andrey recorded the song in a studio and sent it to his friends. They liked it and Andrey decided to write some more. Now he releases new tracks under the name of Kukish. He even took part in Rap-zavod project and became one of its finalists.
“Last year I decided to become a TikToker. I thought that people would be interested in the life of a sightless football player. How he plays football and does everyday chores. Of course, I show all this with a share of humor and self-irony.When I’m joking about blind people, the audience can see that I’m not depressed by my condition. Thus many viewers may understand that blindness is not a tragedy, but just a little different way of life. As full, and bright, and interesting as any other one,” says the football player.
What is more, in TikTok Andrey answers his followers’ questions about the life of the visually challenged people and makes funny videos. For example, about getting lost in a mall. These videos become viral and gain hundreds of thousands of views.
“At the moment I have more than 150,000 TikTok followers, sometimes people even recognize me in the street. But due to the fact that this social network was banned in Russia, I made a pause in this creative work. Now I’m trying to develop my accounts in other social networks and I hope that TikTok will soon be available in our country again,” says Andrey.
Audio description: a colored photo. A cloudy day. Andrey wearing a red T-shirt with a white number seven on his chest is standing in a football field with a smile. In one hand he is holding a golden cup, in the other — a golden statuette of a football player. There is a golden medal on a band around his neck. Russian flag is hanging on the fencing behind Andrey.
On Talent Show At Pyatnitsa Channel
Andrey’s talents were noticed at Pyatnitsa TV Channel, and he was invited to take part in Talent show with Russian stars in the panel of judges.
“In the second tour I already came before the judges. Singers Olga Buzova and Karina Kross, and Vladimir Markoni, a standup comedian, were among them. They tried to evaluate my talent, watched the video where I showed a few football tricks, then we kicked the ball a bit with Vladimir and sang together with Klava Koka, the singer. After five programs the viewers chose the best participants, and I managed to get to the finals,” says Andrey.
He admits that at the final stage the rivalry became more intense, and the process of shooting the program felt more exhausting. In the end, a guy from Chechnya became the winner. The judges admired his handstand and other acrobatic tricks.
“The guy from Chechnya was totally the best! It was difficult for me to imagine how he managed to do that. I wasn’t upset that I didn’t win. Firstly, I tried something new and took part in a cool project, and secondly, I had a chance to talk to the stars of Russian show business and it gave me plenty of emotions. For example, I was much impressed and inspired after getting to know Klava Koka. Both on screen and in everyday life she is a sincere, friendly and very warm person. In the breaks between the shooting we joked a lot and made videos. By the way, I can’t say the same about other persons from the panel of judges. To my mind, most of the stars are totally different off-camera,” says Andrey.
In the future Andrey is planning to complete his university course, continue with the football career and afterwards to become a coach.
“Even now I like to explain various game tactics and strategies to my teammates.The coach trusts me the work with younger players and even asks my opinion in different situations during the break. I will pursue the career of a football coach, because this game gave me my bright and fulfilling life. Of course, I won’t stop joking, creating songs and videos, and I will try to grow as a rapper. In the future I hope to give concerts. Someday I wish to perform in front of a stadium filled with people, only not as a member of a football team, but as a singer,” Andrey Kuklin shares.
