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, PlusLiga continuously since 2001. Nine–time Polish Champion and seven–time Polish Cup winner.

Achievements

Robotniczy Klub Sportowy 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 Skra. In 1994, the club advanced to Polish league II, and in 1997 to league I "B" series. In 1999, it was promoted to series "A", but after a year it 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 in the Polish Men's Volleyball Championship, defeating Jastrzębski Węgiel after three matches. In 2002/2003 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 KP Polska Energia Sosnowiec.
In 2004/2005 players of Skra began their masterful passe. They won first title of Polish Champion after three matches with AZS Olsztyn and achieved their first Polish Cup also after a final match with the club from Olsztyn. The team repeated this success in the next season, when they won second title of Polish Champion in four final matches with Jastrzębski Węgiel, and Polish Cup for the second year in a row. They lost two matches against the Greek team Iraklis Thessaloniki V.C. in playoff 6 of the 2005–06 CEV Champions League.
In 2006, the new coach was Daniel Castellani, who was the first coach of the club from outside Poland. He spent three seasons in Bełchatów. During his work PGE Skra won next three title of Polish Champion and two Polish Cups. 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. Next day, PGE Skra players won a bronze medal in a match with the Italian team Sisley Treviso.
In 2009 a new coach was hired. It was Jacek Nawrocki. 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 VC Zenit-Kazan, but on 8 November 2009 the Polish club lost the final against Trentino Volley. 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 VC Dynamo Moscow and won a bronze medal in a match against ACH Volley Bled. Mariusz Wlazły was the Best Scorer of the Final Four tournament. In 2009/2010 the club won their 6th title of Polish Champion. On 21 December 2010 PGE Skra achieved silver medal of the 2010 FIVB Club World Championship. They lost against Trentino Volley. In 2010/2011 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 March 18, 2012 PGE Skra achieved the silver medal of the CEV Champions League. They won the match against Arkas Izmir in the semi final, but lost the final against Russian club – VC Zenit-Kazan in the Final Four held at Atlas Arena in Łódź, Poland. 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 error on screen. PGE Skra players received 3 of 8 individual awards. Best Receiver was Michał Winiarski, the award for Best Spiker was received by Bartosz Kurek and the title of Most Valuable Player was gained by team captain Mariusz Wlazły. In season 2011/2012 the club lost in the final of the PlusLiga with Asseco Resovia Rzeszów and achieved the silver medal. On October 18, 2013 PGE Skra lost the semi final of the FIVB Club World Championship with Sada Cruzeiro. Next day, Polish team won bronze in their match with VC Zenit Kazan. Opposite Aleksandar Atanasijević was awarded the Best Scorer. In season 2012/2013 the club took 5th place in the PlusLiga and was eliminated from the CEV Champions League by Arkas Izmir.
In 2013 a former setter of this club, Miguel Ángel Falasca, returned to the club from Bełchatów, who after ending his sports career debuted as the head coach. In 2013/2014 PGE Skra competed in the CEV Cup, continuing as far as the semi final, which they lost to Gubierniya Nizhny Novgorod. On October 24, 2013 one of the players - Stephane Antiga - signed a contract with the Polish Association of Volleyball and became the new head coach of 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 season 2013/2014 PGE Skra won a title of Polish Champion 2014, which is the 8th title of Polish Champion in its history. On October 8, 2014 PGE Skra as the Polish Champion 2014 played with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle for the ENEA Polish SuperCup2014. PGE Skra won 3-1 at Arena Poznań in Poznań. Facundo Conte was awarded a title of the Most Valuable Player. In season 2014/2015 PGE Skra has been playing in 2014–15 CEV Champions League. They won all matches in Pool F with Precura Antwerpen, Hypo Tirol Innsbruck, Jihostroj České Budějovice, with a perfect record, winning 18 and losing only 2 sets along the way. In playoff 12 beat Italian club Cucine Lube Treia twice - 3–0 in Macerata and 3–1 at Atlas Arena, Łódź. They went to playoff 6, where their opponents were Italian Sir Safety Perugia. PGE Skra lost their first match with Italian team 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. 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. 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.
On February 7, 2016 PGE Skra achieved Polish Cup 2016. 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. After the failure a head coach Miguel Ángel Falasca has been dismissed during clubs meeting. The decision was announced on March 28, 2016. 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. On February 7, 2016 PGE Skra 2016 won the Polish Cup after beating ZAKSA in the final. In April 2016 the team won a bronze medal in the 2015–16 PlusLiga.

Team – 2020/2021">2020–21 PlusLiga">2020/2021

Coaching staff

Players

No.NameDate of birthPosition
1 Bartosz Filipiakopposite
3 Taylor Sanderoutside hitter
5 Jennings Franciskovicsetter
6 Karol Kłosmiddle blocker
7 Sebastian Adamczykmiddle blocker
8 Milan Katićoutside hitter
11 Milad Ebadipouroutside hitter
15 Grzegorz Łomaczsetter
16 Kacper Piechockilibero
18 Robert Milczareklibero
20 Mateusz Bieniekmiddle blocker
21 Dušan Petkovićopposite
55 Mikołaj Sawickioutside hitter
99 Norbert Hubermiddle blocker

Retired numbers

No.NameDate of birthPosition
2 Mariusz Wlazłyopposite
10 Miguel Ángel Falascasetter

Former names