26/06/2019 18:45
Young, talented Michał Mieszko Gogol appointed as new PGE Skra head coach
News from the clubs
Belchatow, Poland, June 26, 2019. Michał Mieszko Gogol will be at the helm of PGE Skra BELCHATOW in the 2019/2020 season. He has already chosen the staff that will be working with him and the nine-time Polish national champions.
The 34-year-old Gogol began his adventure in Volleyball as a player in Maraton Świnoujście, and then played in Morze SZCZECIN (2004-2008). From 2008 to 2011, he was the assistant coach for AZS CZESTOCHOWA. The new PGE Skra coach also worked as a scout at Asseco Resovia RZESZOW (2011-2016) and after that, he moved to work as an assistant coach with Poland’s U23 national team. Gogol was the head coach of Stocznia SZCZECIN (2016-2018), where he previously held the role of assistant coach. During the season 2018/2019, he was at the helm of Indykpol AZS OLSZTYN and he is still working as an assistant coach of Poland’s senior national team. Although he will be the youngest trainer in PlusLiga, he has three national championship titles to his name already – and he was among the staff that helped Poland claim back-to-back World Championship crowns in 2014 and 2018.
“We have been watching Michał’s work for a long time and I think that he is one of the most promising Polish coaches of the young generation. At the same time, he has a lot of experience, because he has been working for many years in the Polish Volleyball League. He is also an assistant coach of Vital Heynen in the Polish national team and we have determined that he can manage the responsibility and pressure that he will face by becoming the head coach of the PGE Skra BELCHATOW team. The expectations are high, but I believe that Michał, a good Polish coach, is ready for this challenge and will certainly manage this task,” says Konrad Piechocki, the President of PGE Skra.
“Taking over the reins of the PGE Skra team is a great honour for me, but at the same time I realise how much responsibility will fall on my person. I know that a lot of work awaits the whole staff and me as well. However, I am positive. I am not afraid of new challenges, and I am already in my twelfth season at the highest level in Poland and I hope that with such a club as PGE Skra we will achieve further successes,” says the new coach of PGE Skra.
Gogol’s assistant will be Radosław Kolanek, who was first a Volleyball player of the club (2007-2010), and recently a coach of PGE Skra’s junior team, with whom he claimed the 2017-2018 edition of the Polish championship in that age group.
“The opportunity I received certainly shows me that the path chosen so far was correct and it was worth following. I am very happy that the club has chosen me for such a task. I will do everything to help the head coach and the whole staff achieve what we have set as our goals. I have been waiting for this type of challenge and I cannot wait until we can start working,” says Kolanek.
The person responsible for physical conditioning will be Maciej Michalik, who cooperated with Gogol in Stocznia SZCZECIN already. Tomasz Kuciapiński and Tomasz Pieczko will remain as the team’s physiotherapists, and Robert Kaźmierczak will continue his work as the scout of PGE Skra.
“I am very glad to be a part of PGE Skra. I believe that together with such experienced players and the support of an equally experienced training staff we are able to achieve maximum results. PGE Skra has a great atmosphere that I had the opportunity to feel while playing matches in Energia hall, and undoubtedly, there are great people working in the club and an amazing crowd of fans filling the stands of the hall. I am convinced that the coming season will be full of success for us,” says Michalik.
Preparations for the new season of PGE Skra will start at the beginning of August.
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