Spójnia Stargard, also known as shortly Spójnia, is a professional

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in

Stargard Stargard (; 1945: ''Starogród'', 1950–2016: ''Stargard Szczeciński''; or ''Stargard an der Ihna''; ) is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2021 it was inhabited by 67,293 people. It is situated on ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, currently (as of 2022) playing in the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

(PLK), the highest tier in Polish basketball. Spójnia hosts its games at the Hala Miejska.

History

Spójnia Stargard was founded in 1949 as multi-sport club. Its first chairman was , former member of the

Polish resistance movement in World War II In Poland, the Resistance during World War II, resistance movement during World War II was led by the Home Army. The Polish resistance is notable among others for disrupting German supply lines to the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front ...

and Lieutenant of the

Anders' Army Anders' Army was the informal yet common name of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in the 1941–42 period, in recognition of its commander Władysław Anders. The army was created in the Soviet Union but, in March 1942, based on an understand ...

. In the 1996–97 season, Spójnia for the first time in its history reached the finals of the

, which it lost to

Znicz Pruszków Miejski Klub Sportowy Znicz Pruszków () is a football (soccer), football club based in Pruszków, Poland. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of the Polish football league system. Players Current squad ...

. In May 2018, Spójnia promoted to the PLK after winning the

I Liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

championship as the team beat

Sokół Łańcut Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level ...

3–0 in the playoff finals. In its debut 2018–19 season, the team finished as 13th with a 9–21 record. In the 2019 offseason,

PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. (PGE SA or PGE Group, the name can be translated as ''Polish Energy Group'') is a state-owned public power company and the largest power producing company in Poland. PGE is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange an ...

became main sponsor of the team which was re-named PGE Spójnia. In the 2020–21 season, Spójna reached the final of the

2021 Polish Basketball Cup The 2021 Suzuki Polish Basketball Cup () was the 58th edition of Poland's national cup competition for men's basketball teams. It was managed by the Polish Basketball League (PLK) and was held in Lublin, in the ''Globus''. Zastal Zielona Góra ...

. The team lost the final 86–73 to

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra (; ''Green Mountain''; ) is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (). The region is closely associated with vineyards and holds an annual Zielona Góra Wine Fest, Wine Fest. Zie ...

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

Honours

(Polish Championship) *Runners-up (1): 1996–97

Polish Basketball Cup The Polish Basketball Cup () is the annual top-tier level national domestic basketball cup competition for clubs in Poland. It is managed and organised by the Polish Basketball League (PLK). The competition was founded in 1933. Śląsk Wrocław has ...

*Runners-up (1):

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

*Champions (1): 2017–18

Players

Current roster

Notable players

* Rashid Atkins *

Anthony Hickey Anthony Hickey (born November 22, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for APU Udine High school career In high school, Hickey was named the 2011 Kentucky Mr. Basketball winner while playing for Christian County High School. His ...

*/ Joe McNaull *

Shawn Respert Shawn Christopher Respert (born February 6, 1972) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He attended Bishop Borgess High School, and he came to prominence while playing college basketball at Michigan State. He played pro ...

* Kelvin Upshaw * Keith Williams

Notable coaches

* Tadeusz Aleksandrowicz * Grzegorz Chodkiewicz

Crest

The club's crest depicts the medieval Gothic

Stargard Mill Gate Mill Gate (, ) is an old entrance to the city of Stargard, in Poland, which functioned also as a watergate on Ina river. In medieval times the watch lowered a portcullis into the river for the night, which secured Stargard harbour, situated behin ...

, one of the most distinctive historic landmarks of Stargard, and also contains the name of the club and the year of its foundation, i.e. 1949.

Arena

This multi-purpose indoor arena was opened in 1989. Basketball games can be watched by 2,500 spectators. Hala Miejska is part of a bigger complex which consists of hotel and restaurant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spojnia Stargard Basketball teams in Poland Basketball teams established in 1949 Sport in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Stargard County 1949 establishments in Poland