Arka Gdynia (women's basketball)

Arka Gdynia
League	Orlen Basket Liga Kobiet
Founded	1946
Arena	Hala Gier GCS (capacity: 1,416)
Location	Gdynia, Poland
Team colors	Yellow and Blue
President	Bogusław Witkowski
Head coach	Mārtiņš Zībarts
Championships	14 Polish Championships
Website	basketgdynia.pl

Arka Gdynia, currently known as VBW Gdynia for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional women's basketball club based in Gdynia. With 14 Polish Championships and 10 Polish Cups won (as of 2025), it is one of the country's most accomplished women's basketball clubs. It plays in the Orlen Basket Liga Kobiet, the highest division in Poland. ^[1]

Gdynia Arena, the former home venue of Arka Gdynia

History

It was founded in 1946 in the city of Gdańsk as Spójnia Gdańsk. In 1992 the club moved from Gdańsk to Gdynia and changed the name to Bałtyk Gdynia. Then it changed its name several times. From 2001 till 2010 the name of the club was Lotos Gdynia after its titular sponsor Grupa Lotos S.A. Other sponsor names followed before the team was called Basket 90 Gdynia from 2014 to 2018, and Arka Gdynia from 2018 to 2020. Since then, its name is VBW Gdynia after their sponsor VBW Engineering sp. z o.o.

Titles

• EuroLeague Women :
  • 2nd place (2): 2002, 2004
• Polish Championship (14): 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2020, 2021, 2025
• Polish Cup (10): 1970, 1980, 1997, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2020, 2021

Current roster

Arka Gdynia roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age PF 0 Davis, Rannia 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 26 – (1999-02-24)24 February 1999 PF 3 Cowling, Mikayla 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 29 – (1996-04-09)9 April 1996 SG 9 Podgórna, Kamila 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 28 – (1996-09-19)19 September 1996 PG 15 Rudzka, Justyna 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) 24 – (2000-12-24)24 December 2000 C 21 Miškinienė, Laura 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 32 – (1992-10-28)28 October 1992 SG 23 Kastanek, Marissa Lee 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 35 – (1990-05-31)31 May 1990 PG 41 Wrzesiński, Barbora 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 30 – (1994-12-15)15 December 1994 PF 90 Ułan, Karolina 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 20 – (2005-06-01)1 June 2005 C 91 Borkowska, Kamila 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 22 – (2002-07-26)26 July 2002 PG 92 Bazan, Julia 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 23 – (2001-07-01)1 July 2001 SF 93 Żytkowska, Alicja 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 23 – (2001-08-29)29 August 2001 PF 94 Szulc, Magdalena 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 24 – (2001-03-08)8 March 2001 SF 96 Tomasik, Nikola 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 19 – (2005-08-19)19 August 2005 PG 97 Szymkiewicz, Magdalena 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 22 – (2002-08-10)10 August 2002 SG 98 Gilmajster, Agada 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 20 – (2004-12-12)12 December 2004 SF 98 Sasiak, Wiktoria 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 20 – (2005-03-04)4 March 2005	Head coach Philip Mestdagh Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 2024-8-26

Notable former players

• Anna Arkhipova
• Rebecca Allen
• Alana Beard
• Agnieszka Bibrzycka
• Emma Cannon
• Dominique Canty
• Tamika Catchings
• Elīna Dikaioulaku
• Małgorzata Dydek
• Marie Ferdinand
• Gordana Grubin - Vesković
• Chamique Holdsclaw
• Elena Karpova
• Chasity Melvin
• Ticha Penicheiro
• Erin Phillips
• Elaine Powell
• Ruth Riley
• Elen Shakirova
• Katie Smith
• Natalia Vodopyanova
• Tamika Whitmore
• Rankica Šarenac
• Ana Joković
• Limor Mizrachi

References

1. Profile in eurobasket.com