Mariusz Wlazły opens up about Michał Winiarski. This has a special resonance!

It must be admitted that in recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about the talks conducted by the former Polish volleyball representative. Łukasz Kadziewicz invited Zbigniew Bartman to his podcast. A former volleyball player, who also fought in freak fights in the recent past, and also had a short coaching stint – he didn’t bite his tongue. And that’s a gentle word.

The next guest on the “Przegląd Sportowy” and Onet channels was Mariusz Wlazły. It must be admitted that this was a completely different conversation temperature.

Mariusz Wlazły about Michał Winiarski. An important assessment of his coaching role

There is no doubt that in Wlazły’s case we are talking about a living legend of Polish volleyball. Fully deservedly, this man was chosen the best in its history during the 25th Anniversary Gala of the Polish Volleyball League.

Although the former athlete from Wieluń may be associated mainly with Skra Bełchatów, for which he won many titles during his career, he has been a happy resident of the Tricity for several years. And from the 2023/24 season, he works as a psychological preparation coordinator at Trefl Gdańsk.

Wlazły rarely appears in the media. However, Kadziewicz convinced his… former teammate from the Polish national team to have an interesting conversation. One of the threads was about teammates who found themselves on the other side after ending their sports careers. Taking up positions on club boards, as presidents, directors, and finally coaches.

The latter group included the figure of Michał Winiarski. Until recently, the coach of the German national team, and still successfully working for Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie. Did Wlazły expect that his teammate would become a coach who is repeatedly mentioned among potential successors – even in the context of Nikola Grbic’s work in the Polish national team?

– Well, I never thought so in my life (laughter) – Wlazły admitted with a smile, adding: – But cooperation with Michał at Trefl Gdańsk showed me that he was probably suitable for this place. And he chose well. Because with the experience he has, it’s competitive, plus what he gained under Roberto Piazza in Bełchatów. I think he prepared very well for this. And now he is reaping such a harvest that he is actually one of the best individuals in the coaching world, who not only has the skills, but also has enough charisma to be able to attract a certain group of people. And this is extremely important. You can have a workshop, you can have incredible knowledge, but if you don’t have charisma, people won’t follow you. On the other hand, you have charisma, you may not have the skills and learn from your mistakes somewhere. You will have a good second coach and everything will go great – admitted Wlazły in a conversation with Kadziewicz at the Ergo Arena in Tricity.

Let us add that apart from the common thread of work at Trefl Gdańsk, where Wlazły ended his volleyball career and Winiarski began his coaching path, both men played together, for example in Skra Bełchatów.

We also cannot forget about the very important topic regarding the Polish national team. Wlazły and Winiarski were a very important part of the foundation for winning the gold medal at the 2014 World Championships. Winiarski was the captain of the national team at the tournament held in Poland, while Wlazły returned to the team especially for this tournament, ending his absence from the national team after several years.

As it turned out, it was a perfect combination, because Wlazły and Winiarski – together with their teammates – won gold. And the attacker, happy to return, was also elected MVP of the entire tournament.