Poland's sports include almost all sporting disciplines, in particular: football, volleyball, motorcycle speedway, ski jumping, track and field, handball, basketball, tennis and combat sport. The first Polish Formula One driver, Robert Kubica, has brought awareness of Formula One Racing to Poland. Volleyball is one of the country's most popular sports, with a rich history of international competition. Poland has made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob, Jaroslaw Hampel and Rune Holta. Speedway is very popular in Poland with them winning the world cup (2014) and the Polish Extraleague has the highest average attendances for any sport in Poland. The Polish mountains are an ideal venue for hiking, skiing and mountain biking and attract millions of tourists every year from all over the world. Cross country skiing and ski jumping are popular TV sports, gathering 4–5 million viewers each competition, with Justyna Kowalczyk, Adam Małysz and Kamil Stoch as the main attractions. Baltic beaches and resorts are popular locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking and a broad-range of other water-themed sports.
The Poland national rugby union team represents Poland in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The White and Reds (Biało-czerwoni), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby and currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top 6 countries in Europe compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup and often play in white with red shorts as well as in red with white shorts.
The Polish American Football League or shortly PLFA was a structured system for the American football competitions in Poland founded in 2006 by the Polish federation PZFA. In 2012, the Topliga was created as a major league with a bid (invitation) rule. The remaining teams are divided into two leagues between which there was promotion and relegation. There were two eight-man football competitions: PLFA 8 for reserve teams and smaller clubs, and PLFA J for under-17 players.
The Ukrainian minority in Poland was composed of approximately 51,000 people, according to the Polish census of 2011. Some 38,000 respondents named Ukrainian as their first identity, 13,000 as their second identity, and 21,000 declared Ukrainian identity jointly with Polish nationality.
Rugby union in Poland is a minor, but growing sport and currently, the Polish men`s national team are ranked 34th in the world as of 31 October 2020.
Budowlani Łódź is a sports club based in Łódź, Poland. The club was founded in 1948. The club participates in many men's and women's sports. They are primarily known as a rugby club but also compete in volleyball, hockey, Judo and wrestling. They compete in the national men's Rugby Ekstraliga and have won it five times. Budowlani translates to English as 'builders', reflecting the club's origins. The club still often host road builders and other construction workers in the accommodation above the clubhouse.
The Ekstraliga is the top Polish league for women's association football teams.
KŚ AZS Wrocław was a women's football team based in Wrocław, Poland. The football team was officially a part of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology's sporting section, called AZS-AWF Wrocław. The ladies football club section of AZS-AWF Wrocław was founded in 1997 and quickly became a dominant force in women's football in Poland. During their 23 years as a club they won the Polish Championship eight times, with all eight titles being won consecutively from 2001–2008. They also finished second twice and finished third four times. As a club they didn't finish outside of the top three between 2000–2011. AZS Wrocław have also had success in the Polish Cup, winning the competition four times. On 13 May 2020 it was announced that AZS Wrocław had reached an agreement with Śląsk Wrocław with the Śląsk Wrocław ladies team taking AZS Wrocław's place in the Ekstraliga.
MUKS Praga Warszawa, in English known as Praga Warsaw, is a women's football club from Warsaw, Poland. It was founded in 2001. After starting in the 2nd tier of Poland, the team managed promotion to the then highest league, the I Liga in 2003–04. In the following season though with the creation of the Ekstraliga Kobiet as new top league the team couldn't qualify. After three seasons in the level two leagues, the team got promotion in 2007–08 and played two seasons in the Ekstraliga before getting relegated in 2009–10.
Rugby Ekstraliga is the premier league for rugby union in Poland.
The Ekstraklasa, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Legia Warsaw II, in Poland known as Legia II Warszawa, is a Polish football team, which serves as the reserve side of Legia Warsaw. They compete in the III liga, the fourth division of Polish football, and play their home matches at the Legia Training Center in Książenice, Grodzisk Mazowiecki Commune, Masovian Voivodeship.
Wojciech Julian Włodarczyk is a Polish volleyball player. At the professional club level, he plays for LUK Lublin, 2013 Austrian Champion, 2014 Polish Champion.
II liga Rugby is the third tier league for rugby union in Poland. Originally there were two divisions, consisting of 8 teams in the Rugby Ekstraliga and 6 in I liga Rugby, however as the sport is growing in popularity and more and more teams are being registered, a third division was created, consisting of 6 teams. Although local divisions do exist, there is no official relegation or promotion system between the national level and the local divisions, the Champions are may be promoted to I liga Rugby,
Polish Rugby Union, abbreviated to PZR, is the only legal Polish representative of Polish rugby union and rugby sevens for both men and women's rugby and all age groups.
Skra Rugby Warsaw is a Polish rugby club based in Warsaw. They play in the top-tier Ekstraliga.
The 2015–16 I liga is the 8th season of the Polish I liga under its current title, and the 68th season of the second highest division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949. The league is operated by the Polish Football Association (PZPN). The league is contested by 18 teams. The regular season was played in a round-robin tournament. The season began on 1 August 2015, and concluded on 6 June 2016. After the 19th matchday the league will be on winter break between 6 December 2015 and 3 March 2016.
The Polish Men's Volleyball SuperCup is an annual competition for volleyball clubs in Poland played by the PlusLiga champions and Polish Cup winners. It is overseen by the Polish Volleyball Federation and the Professional Volleyball League SA. The tournament was established in 2012 and takes place every year at the beginning of new PlusLiga season.
AZS-AWFiS Gdańsk is a current Polish rugby sevens team and a former rugby union team. Initially formed in Pruszcz Gdański the club enjoyed some success in the higher levels of Polish rugby in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Since 2000 the club has been based in Gdańsk and has been linked with AZS-AWFiS Gdańsk, the sporting section of the Academy of Physical Education and Sport Jędrzej Śniadeckiego in Gdańsk.
Marek Gołębiewski is a Polish football manager and former player who most recently managed Ekstraklasa club Legia Warsaw.
Poland