Stanisław Gościniak – Polish volleyball player (182 cm), coach and World Champion.

Sporting career

Stanisław Gościniak represented Gwardia Wrocław (until 1968) and Resovia Rzeszów, winning four Polish Champion titles (1971−1975), as well as one silver and two bronze medals with the latter club. He also helped Resovia become the world vice-champion in 1975.

Stanisław Gościniak’s team won the World Championship (Mexico, 1974) and was named the best player (MVP) of the tournament. He also won a bronze medal in the European Championship (Istanbul, 1967), came second in the World Cup in Prague, and took part in two Olympic Games tournaments − in Mexico City in 1968 (5th place) and in Munich in 1972 (9th place). He was drafted to the Polish national team 218 times in 1965−1974, and named one of the best setters in the world.

In 1977 he graduated from the Academy of Physical Education and started working for AZS Częstochowa. Under his guidance, the club won the Polish Championship four times (1990, 1994, 1995 and 1997), took silver three times (1991, 1992 and 2001) and won the Polish Cup (1998) and the Super Cup (1995).

Coaching career

In 1986−1987, he coached the Polish men’s national team, which took 9th place at the World Championship in Paris. In 2003−2004, he again coached the Polish men’s team, leading them during the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 (5th-8th place).

In April 2009, he was appointed coach of the junior national team.

Awards and achievements

He received the Golden Cross of Merit for outstanding sporting performance. On October 27th 2005, he was listed in the Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts.