Skra Bełchatów

Skra Bełchatów, competing as PGE Skra Bełchatów for sponsorship reasons and officially called KPS Skra Bełchatów SA is a Polish professional men's volleyball team based in Bełchatów, founded in 1957. The team has been playing in the top level Polish Volleyball League continuously since 2001. Nine–time Polish Champion and seven–time Polish Cup winner.

PGE Skra Bełchatów
Full nameKlub Piłki Siatkowej Skra Bełchatów Spółka Akcyjna
Short nameSkra
Founded1930 (club)
1957 (volleyball team)
GroundHala Energia
ul. Dąbrowskiego 11a
97–400 Bełchatów
(Capacity: 2,700)
Chairman Konrad Piechocki
Manager Michał Mieszko Gogol
LeaguePlusLiga
CEV Champions League
WebsiteClub home page
Uniforms
Home
Away

Achievements

Team history
Bee – mascot of Skra.
Winiarski, Zatorski and Kurek during the match with LOTOS Trefl Gdańsk on 30 September 2011, Ergo Arena, Gdańsk.
Setter Falasca and opposite, captain of Skra Bełchatów Wlazły during the match against LOTOS Trefl Gdańsk on 30 September 2011.
Skra after winning a silver medal of the Polish Championship – 2011/2012.
Daniel Pliński and Paweł Woicki during the match against LOTOS Trefl Gdańsk in PlusLiga on 17 March 2013.
Opposite hitter – Aleksandar Atanasijević during the match against LOTOS Trefl Gdańsk in PlusLiga on March 17, 2013.
First six during a match of PlusLiga with Asseco Resovia at Atlas Arena, Łódź on 30 November 2014.
Head coach Miguel Ángel Falasca and middle blocker Andrzej Wrona during a break on 30 November 2014.
Team in 2014/15 season.

Robotniczy Klub Sportowy (Workers Sports Club) Skra was founded in 1930 in Bełchatów. First, it was a football club. In 1957, a volleyball section was created. In 1977 the football section was separated from the club and incorporated into KWB Bełchatów. In 1991 Bełchatów Power Station became the sponsor of the club, and the club changed its name to Energetyczny Klub Sportowy (Energetic Sports Club) Skra. In 1994, the club advanced to the Polish league II, and in 1997 to league I "B" series. In 1999, they were promoted to series "A", but after a year they fell back down to series "B" again.

In 2001, the club led by Wiesław Czaja was promoted to PlusLiga. In their first season there – 2001/2002 – the team achieved the bronze medal of the Polish Championship, defeating Jastrzębski Węgiel after three matches. During the 2002/2003 season Skra took 6th place in the league and lost in the second round of the CEV Cup in a match against Russian club Lokomotiv Yekaterinburg. The team had a new head coach - Ireneusz Mazur. In 2003/2004 the club was close to achieving its next medal. Skra lost against AZS Częstochowa after five matches. The team was also defeated in the final match of the Polish Cup by Płomień Sosnowiec. In 2004/2005 players of Skra began their masterful passe. They won first title of the Polish Champion after three matches with AZS Olsztyn and also achieved their first Polish Cup after a final match with the same club (3–1). The team repeated this success in the next season, when they won their second title of the Polish Champion in four final matches with Jastrzębski Węgiel and the Polish Cup for the second year in a row (winning final match with AZS Częstochowa (3-0)). They lost two matches against the Greek team Iraklis Thessaloniki in playoff 6 of the 2005–06 CEV Champions League.

In 2006, Daniel Castellani became the new head coach, the first coach of the club from outside Poland. He spent three seasons in Bełchatów. During his work PGE Skra won next three titles of the Polish Champion (2007, 2008, 2009) and two Polish Cups (2007, 2009). In 2008 PGE Skra played as a host of the 2007–08 CEV Champions League Final Four held at Hala MOSiR in Łódź. On 29 March 2008 the team lost the semifinal against the Russian club Dynamo-Tattransgaz Kazan (2–3). On the next day, PGE Skra players won a bronze medal in a match with the Italian team Sisley Treviso (3–2).

In 2009, Jacek Nawrocki became the new head coach. The first success under the guidance of the new coach was the silver medal in the 2009 FIVB Club World Championship. At this tournament after being promoted from Pool B, PGE Skra won their semifinal against Zenit Kazan (3–1), but on 8 November 2009 the Polish club lost the final against Trentino Volley (0–3). 2 of 7 individual awards were received by PGE Skra players – Bartosz Kurek as the Best Scorer, Marcin Możdżonek as the Best Blocker. In 2010 the Polish team was again a host of the 2009–10 CEV Champions League Final Four. They lost the semifinal against Dynamo Moscow and won a bronze medal in a match against ACH Volley Bled. Mariusz Wlazły was named the Best Scorer of the Final Four tournament. In 2009/2010 season the club won their 6th title of the Polish Champion. On 21 December 2010 PGE Skra achieve a silver medal of the 2010 FIVB Club World Championship. They lost against Trentino Volley (1–3). In 2010/2011 the Polish club won their 7th title of the Polish Champion and fifth Polish Cup. The first trophy in 2012 was the sixth Polish Cup in the history of the club. On 18 March 2012 PGE Skra achieved the silver medal of the 2011–12 CEV Champions League. They won the match against Arkas Izmir in the semifinal, but lost the final against the Russian club – Zenit Kazan in the Final Four held at Atlas Arena in Łódź, Poland.[1] The final match ended controversially, because the referee didn't see the block of Russian player and ended the match despite the fact that the audience and all the players saw the touch on a screen.[2] PGE Skra players received 3 out of 8 individual awards. Michał Winiarski was named the Best Receiver, the award for the Best Spiker was received by Bartosz Kurek and the title of the Most Valuable Player was gained by the team captain Mariusz Wlazły.[3] In the 2011/2012 season the club lost in the final of the PlusLiga with Asseco Resovia and achieved the silver medal. On 18 October 2012 PGE Skra lost the semifinal of the 2012FIVB Club World Championship with Sada Cruzeiro (2-3). On the next day, the Polish team won a bronze medal in their match with Zenit Kazan (3-2). The opposite Aleksandar Atanasijević was awarded the Best Scorer. In the 2012/2013 season the club took 5th place in the PlusLiga and was eliminated from the 2012–13 CEV Champions League by Arkas Izmir.

In 2013 a former setter of the club, Miguel Ángel Falasca, returned to the club from Bełchatów, who after ending his sports career debuted as the head coach. During the 2013/2014 season PGE Skra competed in the CEV Cup, continuing as far as the semifinal, which they lost to Gubierniya Nizhny Novgorod. On 24 October 2013 one of the players – Stephane Antiga – signed a contract with the Polish Association of Volleyball and became the new head coach of the Poland men's national volleyball team. For the first time in the history of the Polish national team, the current coach was an active player. In the 2013/2014 season PGE Skra won a title of the Polish Champion , which was the 8th title of the Polish Champion in the club's history.[4] On 8 October 2014 PGE Skra as the Polish Champion played with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle (winner of the Polish Cup) for the Polish SuperCup.[5] PGE Skra won 3-1 at Arena Poznań in Poznań. Facundo Conte was awarded a title of the Most Valuable Player.[6] In the 2014/2015 season PGE Skra was playing in the 2014–15 CEV Champions League. They won all matches in Pool F with Precura Antwerpen, Hypo Tirol Innsbruck and Jihostroj České Budějovice, with a perfect record, winning 18 and losing only 2 sets along the way.[7] In playoff 12 beat Italian club Cucine Lube Treia twice - 3–0 in Macerata[8] and 3–1 at Atlas Arena, Łódź.[9] They went to playoff 6, where their opponents were Italian Sir Safety Perugia. PGE Skra lost their first match with Italian team (2-3) and gained 1 point. In a revenge match, on March 11, 2015 at Atlas Arena, Łódź PGE Skra Bełchatów beat Sir Safety Perugia 3-1, gained 3 points and went to the Final Four, which will be held in Berlin.[10] They will play with another Polish team - Asseco Resovia Rzeszów and for the firsat time in history two Polish teams will be playing at semifinal of CEV Champions League Final Four.[11] Club played in Final Four of 2014–15 CEV Champions League, but lost with Asseco Resovia Rzeszów in semifinal and next day in bronze medal match with Berlin Recycling Volleys and did not achieve any medal. On May 6, 2015 they won bronze medal of Polish Championship after winning matches with Jastrzębski Węgiel.[12]

On February 7, 2016 PGE Skra achieved Polish Cup 2016 (beat ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle 3-2 in the finale).[13] They received four individual awards: Conte was the Best Receiver, Lisinac was the Best Blocker, Wlazły was the Best Opposite Spiker and Most Valuable Player of tournament. During the final with ZAKSA, the captain Mariusz Wlazły was injured in tie-break. Skra got eliminated from 2015–16 CEV Champions League in playoffs 6 by Zenit Kazan (first match 3-2, second 0-3). After the failure a head coach Miguel Ángel Falasca has been dismissed during clubs meeting. The decision was announced on March 28, 2016.[14] Management of Skra announced also that duties of head coach to the end of season 2015/16 were taken by Falasca's assistant Italian Fabio Storti, but next day on March 29, 2016 club signed a contract with a new head coach – Philippe Blain.[15] On February 7, 2016 PGE Skra 2016 won the Polish Cup after beating ZAKSA in the final.[16] In April 2016 the team won a bronze medal in the 2015–16 PlusLiga.[17]

Team – 2020/2021

Coaching staff
Occupation Name
Head coach Michał Mieszko Gogol
Assistant coach Radosław Kolanek
Strength and conditioning coach Maciej Michalik
Physiotherapist Tomasz Kuciapiński Tomasz Pieczko
Statistician Robert Kaźmierczak
Doctor Wojciech Łucarz

Players
No. Name Date of birth Position
1 Bartosz Filipiak (1994-02-27) 27 February 1994opposite
3 Taylor Sander (1992-03-17) 17 March 1992outside hitter
6 Karol Kłos (1989-08-08) 8 August 1989middle blocker
7 Sebastian Adamczyk (1999-02-28) 28 February 1999middle blocker
8 Milan Katić (1993-10-22) 22 October 1993outside hitter
11 Milad Ebadipour (1993-10-17) 17 October 1993outside hitter
12 Dušan Petković (1992-01-27) 27 January 1992opposite
15 Grzegorz Łomacz (1987-10-01) 1 October 1987setter
16 Kacper Piechocki (1995-12-17) 17 December 1995libero
18 Robert Milczarek (1983-11-28) 28 November 1983libero
20 Mateusz Bieniek (1994-04-05) 5 April 1994middle blocker
55 Mikołaj Sawicki (1999-11-23) 23 November 1999outside hitter
99 Norbert Huber (1998-08-14) 14 August 1998middle blocker
Mihajlo Mitić (1990-09-17) 17 September 1990setter

Retired numbers
No. Name Date of birth Position
2 Mariusz Wlazły(1983-08-04)4 August 1983opposite
10 Miguel Ángel Falasca(1973-04-29)29 April 1973setter

Former names
Years Name
1957–1991RKS Skra Bełchatów
1991–2004EKS Skra Bełchatów
2004–2005KPS Skra Bełchatów
2005–2007BOT Skra Bełchatów
2007–presentPGE Skra Bełchatów

See also

References
  1. Zenit KAZAN shatters PGE Skra dreams of home glory – cev.eu – 18-03-2012
  2. PGE Skra Bełchatów - Zenit Kazań 2:3. Sędzia odebrał PGE Skrze szanse na sukces – lodz.naszemiasto.pl – 19-03-2012
  3. Mariusz Wlazły MVP Final Four LM – plusliga.pl – 18-03-2012
  4. PGE Skra mistrzem Polski – plusliga.pl – 27-04-2014
  5. ENEA Super Puchar w piłce siatkowej 2014 dla PGE Skry Bełchatów – plusliga.pl – 08-10-2014
  6. Facundo Conte MVP ENEA Super Pucharu w piłce siatkowej mężczyzn 2014 – plusliga.pl – 08-10-2014
  7. PGE Skra make it six in a row to cap memorable campaign in CL League Round – cev.eu – 27-01-2015
  8. Skra makes big step forward towards Playoffs 6 – cev.eu – 11-02-2015
  9. PGE Skra BELCHATOW claim last spot in Playoffs 6 in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,000 fans – cev.eu – 19-02-2015
  10. PGE Skra BELCHATOW secure Final Four ticket to delight 12,000 home fans – cev.eu – 11-03-2015
  11. Asseco Resovia RZESZOW claim historic Final Four ticket to set up much anticipated Polish derby with Skra in semis – cev.eu – 11-03-2015
  12. PGE Skra z brązowym medalem – plusliga.pl – 06-05-2015
  13. PGE Skra Bełchatów zwycięzcą Pucharu Polski! – plusliga.pl – 07-02-2016
  14. Miguel Falasca odchodzi z PGE Skry Bełchatów – skra.pl – 28-03-2016
  15. Mistrz Świata poprowadzi PGE Skrę – skra.pl – 29-03-2016
  16. POLISH CUP M: Venture of all time - Skra win trophy after annulling 3-8 in tie-break! – worldofvolley.com – 07-02-2016
  17. Brązowa PGE Skra! – skra.pl – 26-04-2016
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