Diamonds for the Best — 2026 Polish Volleyball League Gala

On May 20, 2026, the Polish Volleyball League’s awards gala, wrapping up the 2025–2026 season, was held at ATM Studio in Warsaw. Several hundred guests—players, coaches, officials, sponsors, and members of the media—celebrated the end of the season, but that evening was about much more than just the presentation of the season’s awards. The gala marked the start of celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Olympic gold medals won by Coach Hubert Jerzy Wagner’s team at the Montreal Games.

In 1976, the Polish national team won the gold medal, a feat that set the standard for the entire Polish volleyball program for decades to come. The heroes of those Games took the stage at ATM Studio: Edward Skorek, Włodzimierz Stefański, Bronisław Bebel, Mirosław Rybaczewski, Zbigniew Lubiejewski, Ryszard Bosek, Włodzimierz Sadalski, and Marek Karbarz. On behalf of Jerzy Welcz, his son Wojciech accepted the medal. The families of the volleyball players who are no longer with us were represented by Barbara Gawłowska—wife of Wiesław Gawłowski, Robert Wójtowicz—son of Tomasz Wójtowicz, and Grzegorz Wagner—son of Hubert Jerzy Wagner. Edward Skorek, captain of the gold-medal-winning team, put it plainly: that team set new trends and raised the bar that Polish volleyball continues to strive to reach to this day. It was a moving moment that served as a reminder of something easily forgotten in the daily frenzy of competition: that what we call tradition today had to be built from scratch by someone at some point.

The 2025/2026 season also brought its own new results. Mateusz Bieniek of Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie was named PlusLiga Player of the Season, while Jakub Ciunajtis of Indykpol AZS Olsztyn was named PlusLiga Breakout Player of the Season. Aaron Russell—also from Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie—was named the PlusLiga Foreign Player of the Season. Michał Winiarski was named PlusLiga Coach of the Season for leading the Zawiercie club to the championship title, while the selection committee named Bartłomiej Dąbrowski of UNI Opole as the coaching discovery of the season. The MVP of the PLS 1st League was awarded to Michał Superlak of GKS Katowice, who once again led the team back to the top division. Among the women, the TAURON League Player of the Season award went to Katarzyna Zaroślińska-Król of UNI Opole—an outside hitter who broke the all-time scoring record in the history of the women’s top division. Maja Koput of Lotto Chemik Police was named the TAURON League’s Breakout Player of the Season; Maja Storck of PGE Budowlani Łódź was named Foreign Player of the Season; and Maciej Biernat, also of PGE Budowlani Łódź, was named Coach of the Season.

The evening also honored those without whom the professional league could not function. The PLS Diamonds for the 2025/2026 season were awarded to additional partners and sponsors who help shape league volleyball in Poland on a daily basis. The Blachy Pruszyński Company—a long-time partner of Polish volleyball—received the PLS Diamond in the “Sponsor” category a year earlier at the PLS 25th Anniversary Gala. The company has been supporting the sport for nearly two decades, recognizing that great sporting traditions are built precisely through such consistency.

PLS President Artur Popko summed up the evening with words that aptly capture the current state of Polish volleyball: it was an extraordinary season, with clubs that had never won gold medals before doing so for the first time, and the league is increasingly moving toward building fully-fledged club organizations, not just teams. Minister of Sport and Tourism Jakub Rutnicki added that most of Poland’s national team players now compete in Polish leagues—and that a project to certify volleyball academies is just getting underway, so that the sport can reach smaller towns as well.

The gala at ATM Studio was, therefore, more than just an awards ceremony. It was a gathering of the entire volleyball community—the legends from 1976, the champions of the 2025–2026 season, and the partners who help shape this league. Volleyball in Poland has come a half-century since one of the greatest triumphs in the history of Polish sports. Judging by what’s happening today—the best chapters of this story are still ahead of us.