The withdrawal of Legionovia from the games during the Tauron Liga season is a blow not only to the fans of the team from Mazovia. This is a hit in the sensitive spot of the entire Polish volleyball. The place where many Polish representatives grew up disappears from the league map. The well-deserved club collapses due to one of the biggest problems of women’s volleyball in Poland. Eternal lies and unfulfilled promises.
“There must be consequences and action taken. So that it does not happen again”
Malwina Smarzek, Katarzyna Zaroslińska-Król, Zuzanna Górecka, Iga Wasilewska or Klaudia Alagierska-Szczepaniak – most fans know them from the national team or the biggest clubs in Poland. However, each of them can even talk about herself as being brought up in a club from Legionowo. It was there that they made their first big steps in national volleyball at the highest level, made their debut in the league, sometimes played matches for leading positions, and sometimes also gained experience, fighting to keep the club in the competition.
– Legionovia gave me a chance to develop further and show myself in the then Orlen League. It’s a pity that another club collapses and there are no lessons learned. The worst thing is that no one is doing anything about it – says Sport.pl Alagierska-Szczepaniak. “I hope this is the last time it happens.” There must be consequences and action taken. So that it doesn’t happen again – adds the volleyball player currently playing in ŁKS Commercecon Łódź, who spent four years in the first team from Legionowo. And although the collapsing club has no arrears towards her, she herself regrets that other players have to face it.
– I have sentiment for this club, my heart hurts. I’m sorry these things happen. I left a lot there and remembered a lot. Financial problems happen to a lot of teams, but in this case, they didn’t manage to get out of them. It’s a pity, because it should be a showcase of Mazovia and its pride – points out Alagierska-Szczepaniak.
“Everything was destroyed. Overnight we were broken, the bomb went off”
These are difficult times for former Legionovia coach Alessandro Chiappini. The Italian currently runs the aforementioned ŁKS Commercecon, which is the leader of the Tauron League and the group in the volleyball Champions League, but the coach’s thoughts are not only about everyday matters. – The arrears of the club from Legionowo towards me are huge. They exceed the full annual amount of the contract – admits the coach who led the team until the end of last season. In April 2022, trying to draw attention to the problems facing the club, the players and staff went out to warm up before one of the home games in T-shirts with the slogan “SOS”. However, it did not help and after the season Chiappini and most of the players with whom he won an extraordinary fifth place in the league left.
In the memory of the Italian, even the best moments spent at the club begin to give way to the worst. – We fought twice for a place in the top five, we were in the Final Four of the Polish Cup. These are beautiful memories. But the last months spent in Legionowo are now in my head the most. We sat down together many times and discussed this issue with the whole team. We wanted to believe that the club would get back together and fix everything. We united very much around this problem, because it was common to all of us. There was a moment when we could choose: we leave or we go on, although nothing changes and there is still no money. We played, probably a bit for the idea and sports dreams – says Chiappini.
– Usually in difficult situations I try to direct girls’ thoughts straight to volleyball. We think about sports so as not to worry about problems. On the pitch, everything became perfect because of it, we played the best we could. We focused on finishing the season, but something inside us snapped. Fifteen days before the end of the season nobody came, they didn’t tell us anything. After the first match with Budowlani Łódź everything fell apart. Right between the games, because we finally heard a promise that we would get at least part of the money. And nothing like that happened. Then I knew everything was destroyed. Overnight we were broken, the bomb exploded. The last hope has fallen, he says.
“It’s hard to watch this club go down, how financial problems are killing it off”
– The most sad thing about all this is that this is not the first time something like this happens – says Sport.pl Aleksandra Gryka, who played for Legionovia last season. – We stayed in touch with the girls from last year’s squad and everyone is very sad. Probably everyone who has ever created Legionovia has a fondness for it. This club has produced some great players and it’s hard to see them go down, financial problems killing them off. I do not know how this story will affect the further situation of volleyball in Poland, but I hope that something will change, something will start. It would be very nice, but to be honest, I don’t see it in colorful colors – assesses the current ŁKS Commercecon volleyball player.
Gryka has a comparison between playing for Legionovia plagued by financial problems and the years spent there earlier, when she was just developing as a young player. – I left Legionovia and we had great achievements in junior volleyball there. It was fun to play for the senior team afterwards, but now it’s hard to watch my home club fall apart.”
What about the money that the club owes the volleyball player? Does Gryka hope to get them back? – It is a global situation that the club declares bankruptcy and disappears, and with it the money and there is no way to get along with it. It’s not fair and it hurts the players. We will try and fight, but I have no idea what can come of it – says Gryka.
Chiappini: “Everyone knows everything. May they deal with the problem now”
“It’s a sad moment when we already know it’s over. The situation was and is critical for me and everyone who made up this team in the previous months. I hope that somehow they will do everything to pay off their debts and return the money they are supposed to pay to everyone they owe.
– This is not a good advertisement for Polish volleyball. Something similar has happened, is happening and probably will happen every season, every year, but what the volleyball world sees through it is not positive. I hope that the people responsible for how Polish volleyball functions and looks will not stand idly by and will help get rid of this label that is slowly being attached to Poland. Everyone knows about it, this information does not stop. The collapse of Legionovia will have a real impact on the future of women’s volleyball in Poland: players will not want to come here, the market will be blocked, and the level of volleyball will decrease along with the interest. Everyone should be interested in this, appeals Chiappini.
– I do not know what’s coming next. The club withdrew from the competition, it will soon become a ghost. Let each of the responsible people in Polish volleyball think about what they could do today to help in this matter. Everyone knows everything about this. May they now deal with the problem of the fall of Legionovia – adds the coach.
Source: Sport.PL
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
