Historia sekcji siatkówki mężczyzn (English)

Z Historia Wisły

"IKC" from 08.02.1927

PThe first press reports about the existence of a volleyball team in Wisła date back to February 1927, which is a year earlier than what later club anniversary records indicate. On February 6, there was supposed to be a match between our volleyball team and YMCA juniors. The match ended with Wisła's victory, 2:0.

Volleyball match against Cracovia team, 1930r.

Serious competition against local rivals began in April 1928. It was at this time that freshly constructed volleyball and basketball courts were made available for the sports games section (which included both volleyball and basketball teams) of Wisła. The section developed successfully, and in the very first year of these intermittent matches, the Wisła volleyball team won the runner-up position in the Kraków district in 1929. In 1930, Wisła won the sports games tournament, defeating teams from Sokół, Makkabi, and Wawel. In May 1931, the volleyball team repeated its success from two years prior, winning the silver medal in the Kraków district championships. It's worth noting that the volleyball team often featured athletes from other Wisła sports disciplines, with football players frequently among them.

Match in Zakopane, 1946r.

In the following years, significant successes were lacking. Between 1934 and 1936, the men's volleyball section continued to exist organizationally, but its players did not participate in any competitive matches, whether friendly or district-level. The club's management suspended the activities of this section, not only due to poor results but also because of financial difficulties. In 1937, Wisła returned to volleyball courts to compete at the district level, securing the title of Kraków district runners-up in the next two years.

During the years of the occupation, the activity in the section almost completely closed. Initially, there were attempts to continue playing official matches against Cracovia or Modrzejówka, but they were quickly discontinued because the fields were in too visible locations. Then it was the turn of Swoszowice, where the Wisła players, along with the volleyball players from 'Olsza,' practiced this discipline. As Jacek Arlet recalled, 'We played volleyball almost every Sunday in Swoszowice. Wealthy people, the Węglarski family, had their headquarters there, and very good players from Krakow came to play volleyball there, although these were only friendly matches.'

The first post-war years brought significant sporting successes to the section on both the regional and national levels. The title of Krakow champions in men's volleyball during the 1945/46 season allowed Wisła's team to participate in the Polish Championships. After taking the 1st place without a loss in the semifinal group, the volleyball players were just one step away from winning the championship title. In the deciding match against Społem Warsaw, which almost resembled a national team, Wisła's players even won a match point. However, the main referee changed the decision of the match referee, and the volleyball players left the court defeated. By finishing third in Poland, Wisła's volleyball players achieved the greatest success in the section's history. It is worth noting that this was the first Polish Championships medal for Wisła in team sports after the war.

They won it — apart from the best volleyball player of the championships Jacka Arleta – Csaba Dezsö, Józef Ganobis, Maciej Leszcz-Korwin, Władysław Papiński, Paweł Stok, Tadeusz Pawlik, complemented by Zbigniewem Hegerlem, Stawiarskim i Szymońskim.

The volleyball players were unable to replicate this success in the following years. In 1946, there was still success in mixed championships (Tomasikówna-Arlet won ahead of Ditkowska and Pawlik), as well as a second place in men's triples behind AZS (Arlet, Dezsö, Pawlik, Dr. Stok). During this time, a separate volleyball section began to emerge, led by Dezsö, Jerzy and Zdzisław Janicki, Stanisław Koziana, Zygmun Karton, and Włodzimierz Sidor, but they couldn't reach the level of their predecessors.

In the late forties and early fifties, the volleyball team's successes were minimal, even at the provincial level. However, they managed to secure the second place in the GKKF Cup in 1949 and deservedly, albeit unexpectedly, won the Krakow championship in 1951.