Polish Language Blog

On July 1st 1907 in Lwów there was a match between 1st Lwowski Klub Piłki Nożnej and Pogoń Lwów. This date is the beginning of the Polish Hockey. On October 31st  1926 in Poznań Polish Hockey Association originated. Since 1927 PHA has been the member of the International Hockey Federation.

Since the first start in The Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 Men’s national team have been known in the World. Men’s teams five times have taken part in The Olympic Games (1952, 1960 1972, 1980, 2000), Women’s – one (1980).

Poland played six times in World Cups (1975, 1978, 1981/82, 1986, 1998, 2002), ten times in European Championships (1970, 1974, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005) and one in World Cup U-21 (2005). Men’s National and club teams belong to the top of the world in indoor hockey. Men’s team became Vice Champion in 2003. Earlier, in 1996, Men’s U-21 team had become European Champion. Pocztowiec Poznań won European Club Championship in 2003. Many times Men’s (1999, 2001), Men’s U-21 (1985, 1992, 1996, 2000), Women’s (2005) and club teams Pocztowiec Poznań (1995, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005) and Grunwald Poznań (1994) has stood on podium during European Championships.

Many international tournaments have been organized in Poland e.g. 5th International Cup (World Cup Qualifier) in 1993 in Poznań also many events in youth categories in Gniezno,

Poznań and Siemianowice Śląskie. Since 1996 Polish Hockey Association have organized world – known international tournament Junior Challenge Open.

In Polish Hockey there are thousands of players, officials, coaches, umpires and volunteers.

Some of them are known in the world. Tadeusz Socholik from Katowice was one of the initiators of European Hockey Federation. For nearly 30 years he was a member of the Executive Board EHF.

In 1967 Poland, as a reward, got Paul Leautey’s Cup and in 1988 special Rene Frank’s reward for popularizing hockey.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

It has become a ritual for Polish soccer fans to chant “nic się nie stało” (nothing has happened) after our national team gets prematurely eliminated from a tournament. Euro 2012, co-hosted by Poland, was no exception. But this time something did happen.

Over the past month, Polish patriotism (polski patriotyzm) has evolved from a mournful sense of victimhood (żałobne poczucie bycia ofiarą) rooted in the past to a more progressive and positive patriotism (bardziej postępowy i pozytywny patriotyzm). It is this gelling of Polish national identity that could become the true legacy of Euro 2012. The next few months will be crucial in deciding whether this shift marks a definitive turning point — as it did with Germany after their 2006 World Cup — or if it is merely a passing fad.

Financially, the tournament will probably not pay off for Poland. Warsaw’s new national stadium — used five times during the tournament — cost Polish taxpayers $550 million. The future of the flashy stadium is unclear. Even a top Polish league soccer game attracts very modest crowds.

But what has already begun to change is how Europeans see Poland. In June more than 600,000 European fans flooded Polish stadiums and almost 2.5 million foreigners crammed into sweaty fan zones across Poland.

What they saw in no way resembled the horror story portrayed last month in the sensationalist BBC Panorama documentary entitled “Stadiums of Hate.” Visiting fans were presented with a young, dynamic and tolerant Poland. The entire Warsaw Central Station has been mummified by a massive banner reading “Feel Like at Home.” The message is clear: The Poland of today is open to Europe and eager to please.

More importantly though, Euro 2012 has changed how Poles see each other — and themselves.

Polish history has given Poles plenty of practice in losing. Reacting to Poland’s defeat against the Czech Republic, the spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry argued that “supporting Poland is closer to reality than supporting Germany or Barcelona — it puts you in good stead to weather life blows.” This sentiment runs deep within Polish society. Listen to the commentary of Poland’s three tournament games and you hear an emotional monologue punctuated by the words “fate,” “faith,” “fortune” (los, wiara, fortuna) — peppered with the occasional name of a footballer.

In Poland, soccer and national identity have always been tightly stitched together. For many decades, Poles had little to be proud of. This has changed. It is now much easier to support Poland and to be proud of being Polish. The new Poland is more self-assured (pewna siebie) of its strategic position in Europe and more at ease with its neighbors.

Poland has come a long way, but its psychological transition (psychologiczna transformacja) is not yet complete. The BBC documentary, despite being one-sided and largely misguided, showed that Poles still have some way to go in terms of coming to terms with delicate issues without becoming overly defensive and crying conspiracy.

The “beautiful game” is just that — a game. But it does give countries a chance to focus on their strengths and weaknesses. Poland may have been beaten on the field, but it came out of Euro 2012 as the clear winner.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Poland expects 20,000 Russian fans to arrive in Warsaw with tickets for the final Group A match with Greece, twice the number who came to the game with Poland that was marred by bloody street clashes (krwawe starcia uliczne) on Tuesday.

On Wednesday a Warsaw court issued first sentences to hooligans (chuligani) who took part in the skirmishes (potyczki) with Russian supporters, handing out suspended jail terms of up to 12 months and fines to eight Poles.

Police detained 184 people, 156 of them Poles and most of the rest Russians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a phone conversation on Wednesday Warsaw bore “full responsibility” for the safety of fans, comments raising the stakes in a violent confrontation which brought the nations’ troubled relationship to the fore.

The trigger for Tuesday’s trouble was a march across Poniatowski bridge in central Warsaw by thousands of Russian fans to commemorate Russia’s Independence Day.

The interior ministry declined to say how it would get fans to the stadium this time without trouble, although city authorities have already said they would oppose any further set piece marches. Many Russian fans did make their way peacefully to the stadium in smaller groups on Tuesday.

A UEFA ruling against Russia on Wednesday means that the country will be docked six points in qualifying for the next European Championship if their fans step out of line again after earlier disturbances (zaburzenia) at the tournament.

Some unofficial estimates put as many as 20,000 Russians in the city during Tuesday’s violence, many of them without tickets for the game – suggesting that the overall number coming to the city for the Greek game could be higher.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)