Bartosz Makoś on the secret of PlusLiga’s revelation. They have a patent for giants

Bartosz Makoś

There is no doubt that Steam Hemarpol Norwid Częstochowa made a lot of positive noise in PlusLiga. Bartosz Makoś, libero of the team from Jasna Góra, told Wprost.pl how the revelation works from the inside.

Tie-breaks won against Jastrzębski Węgiel, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle and Asseco Resovia Rzeszów. Additionally, a place in the top eight of PlusLiga after eight rounds of the regular part of the 2024/25 season. Perhaps even the greatest optimists in Częstochowa did not expect that Steam Hemarpol Norwid would do so well at the start of the competition.

Bartosz Makoś, one of the two liberos of the Częstochowa team, talked for Wprost.pl about the atmosphere in the team, pointing to several key elements.

PlusLiga: Steam Hemarpol Norwid Częstochowa beat the favorites

Makoś started his stay in PlusLiga in 2017, as a Cuprum Lubin player. He spent four seasons in this team, after which he moved to Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie. Two more campaigns in the realities of Zawiercie, and then the highest possible level, Jastrzębski Węgiel. Paradoxically, Makoś is a student of the current Polish champions, leaving the local academy as the Polish junior champion.

In the 2023/24 season, the libero won gold with JW, and also reached the Champions League final. But Makoś wanted to start playing, not having many such opportunities with the great Jakub Popiwczak. Hence the decision to move to Częstochowa, near Jastrzębie-Zdrój, but still. This is the fourth club in eight seasons of operation in PlusLiga.

– I feel very good in Częstochowa. At the moment I have nothing to complain about. I think I fit in quite well in the team. I spent last season in my hometown. Moving out of Jastrzębie-Zdrój again was not easy. But Częstochowa is a very nice city. Additionally, we have a team that is a nice combination of youth and experience. This is motivating for both sides. The younger ones encourage the experienced players to work even harder, and those with a lot of matches played show their class and set the bar high. The idea with which this team was built is working well at the moment. We have shown that we can make surprises and I secretly hope that this is not the end of what Norwid is capable of this season of PlusLiga – admits Makoś.

Częstochowa is a unique place for Polish volleyball. AZS is a six-time Polish champion, with the same number of silver and four bronze medals. The latter was obtained in 2008. And in the case of significant success, it is worth adding the victory in the Challenge Cup in 2012. There was AZS, but today it is its younger brother, blazing its own trail. Norwid, who for years “lived” mainly from training young people, but decided to go out into the wide waters, tasting PlusLiga. The 2024/25 campaign is the club’s second consecutive season in the elite. As you can see, with better and better results.

Director Łukasz Żygadło and interesting team structure

Nearly 250 matches in the Polish national team, including the strongest leagues in the world and the reputation of a guy with extensive volleyball knowledge. And a classy man. This is Łukasz Żygadło, director of Norwid.

The former playmaker chose several interesting names when building the team for the 2024/25 season. Norwid had more time than this year, when he was a PlusLiga newcomer. Unfortunately, this is a problem for every team that enters the PlusLiga after winning in its backfield. When you sit down at the transfer table, the cards have already been dealt. The competition to build teams for the next season begins a few months after the start of the new campaign. But Żygadło organized the team well.

One of the revelations is Patrik Indra, the Czech attacker. The man who outplayed his rivals in the French league is now showing increasingly better performances in PlusLiga.

– Patrik Indra has integrated very well into our team. I think that the Czech showed in PlusLiga that he will be dangerous to his opponents. It shows this practically from the very beginning. Looking at the training, I assure you that his capabilities are very high. Patrik’s potential is huge. I think that his self-confidence in PlusLiga will grow with each match and the entire Częstochowa will be very happy with how he will perform – says Makoś.

To illustrate, Indra scored 31 points in the win against Jastrzębski Węgiel. It was not much “worse” against Asseco Resovia Rzeszów – 28 points.

The American quarterback Quinn Lester Isaacson also moved from France to Poland. Andrzej Wrona, captain of PGE Projekt Warszawa, rightly noticed that this could be a story similar to Miguel Tavares.

The Portuguese came to PlusLiga as a little-known playmaker. However, as it turned out, today he is one of the best in his profession and it is no coincidence that he leads the game of coach Michał Winiarski’s team.

– I had the opportunity to spend four seasons with Miguel and observe his start in Lubin, which is actually similar to Quinn’s start in PlusLiga. They both reached Poland after seasons spent in France. And I can say that from the very beginning they fit into the Polish reality very well. Quinn is a very brave quarterback with an interesting idea for the game. As in the case of the above-mentioned Patrik, the potential of Norwid’s quarterback is also huge and he has not yet discovered all his cards – adds Norwid’s libero with a smile.

Captain Milad Ebadipour, or experience in Częstochowa

The current Norwid is not only about discoveries, good transfers from other leagues, but also relying on figures well known from PlusLiga. An example would be Captain Milad Ebadipour. Before signing the contract in Częstochowa, the Iranian had already played for several years on Polish courts. Apart from representative appearances in “hot” Poland-Iran confrontations, Ebadipour was a volleyball player for PGE Skra Bełchatów in 2017-22. With the Bełchatów club, he won the Polish championship in 2018.

Now he is a very important figure in Norwid, the duo of receivers most often forming with another experienced player in the domestic field. We’re talking about Bartłomiej Lipiński, who not only played in the league, but also played for the Polish national team a few years ago.

– Milad? From the perspective of the captain and the pitch, he is doing just great. He gives a lot of tips and makes sure that these blocks are properly arranged at the party. From my perspective, playing next to such a player is, let’s call it, easier. If the situation requires it, Milad is able to take on more space in the reception, additionally having the self-confidence that radiates from this player. Importantly, this is an invaluable value in key moments, which Milad translates into a positive result for the team. It’s contagious, because you feel much more confident – Makoś appreciates the role of captain.

However, Norwid’s libero knows well that assessing his achievements after eight rounds is definitely too early. Norwid still has a lot of playing time on the horizon, and the current season in PlusLiga is extremely demanding because three teams are relegated.

Additionally, to make things not so rosy, apart from the above-mentioned wins over Jastrzębski Węgiel, ZAKSA and Asseco Resovia, the Częstochowa team had a big defeat at home against Barkom Każany Lwów. The Ukrainian club did not manage to score even a point before the match at Jasna Góra. But in Częstochowa, Barkom had a breakthrough and a valuable victory in three sets.

– It’s definitely important to remember that I still have a lot of challenges ahead of me. This is just the beginning, but the atmosphere in the team is definitely very good. We are well aware of how important points are this season. There have already been a few surprises. It seems to me that throughout the regular phase, the table will be very tight. It’s definitely a pity about the match against Barkom, where we missed the match a bit on home ground. We didn’t manage to score points, but two days later we were back on the right track – adds Makoś.

After the above-mentioned Barkom, it was time for Asseco Resovia and their triumph in Rzeszów after five sets. Although the fact is that it was already 1:2 in sets and 22:24 to the detriment of coach Cezar Douglas Silva’s team. Norwid, however, did not break and reversed the result, taking away two valuable points from the capital of Podkarpacie.

What’s next? Probably the small steps method. Sunday, October 27, 8:30 p.m. Steam Hemarpol Norwid Częstochowa vs. GKS Katowice. A match that has the characteristics of the one against Barkom. The hosts will be the favorites. However, GKS will arrive with a knife at its throat, trying to get out of the relegation zone.

And this is what PlusLiga is like this season. There is no room for boredom.

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