History

 

On May 27, 1998, the Provincial Court in Katowice registered the Association, and on 18 June, the First General Assembly was elected, consisting of: the president - Janusz Kołcz, vice president - Jacek Kiseła, secretary - Krzysztof Wania, treasurer - Maciej Sołtysiak, member the board - Bonifacy Struzik. The Audit Committee was also composed of: Stanisław Jurczyński, Piotr Partyka and Jolanta Staniczek. On September 1, the first official training of the junior youth team took place - class 1985. Initially, the trainings were conducted in two training groups: both class 1984 and 1985 and class 1986.

 

In June 2002, a junior high school basketball class was established in Junior High School No. 5 in Gliwice for boys born in 1989. On September 1, 2003, another sports class was opened in Junior High School No. 5 - year 1990. 12 months later a sports class was established in Junior High School No. 1 - year 1991.

 

Currently, the club conducts a wide training activity among children and young people, noting many successes on the domestic and foreign borders of Poland. The greatest success of young GTK Gliwice basketball players has so far been the second place in Poland in the category of youngsters in the season 2007/2008.

 

The same season was also the first, where a senior team was formed and began competing in the third league. The team was led by Jacek Adamczak.

 

Season 2009/10

 

Season2009 /10 turned out to be a breakthrough, because after three years of appearances at the level of the third league GTK conducted by Jacek Adamczak managed to win a promotion to the higher division. The team was composed of: Michał Damulewicz, Błażej Duda, Stanisław Grabiec, Paweł Juraszek, Marcin Marczyk, Stanisław Mazanek, Łukasz Nawrot, Łukasz Ochodek, Grzegorz Podulka, Grzegorz Sobański, Maciej Soehrich, Jakub Szklarz, Paweł Szymański and Kamil Wania.

 

Season 2010/11

 

In the first season in the second division, the team will be joined by Tomasz Czajkowski and Karol Leszczyński. With the balance of 15 wins and the same number of defeats, the team took 7th place in the league. In the 2010/11 competition our team was represented in addition to the two players mentioned above by: Michał Damulewicz, Stanisław Grabiec, Paweł Juraszek, Hubert Klimecki, Kosma Kołcz, Marcin Marczyk, Stanisław Mazanek, Łukasz Nawrot, Łukasz Ochodek, Grzegorz Podulka, Grzegorz Sobański, Maciej Soehrich , Jakub Szklarz, Paweł Szymański and Kamil Wania.

 

Season 2011/12

 

The season 2011/2012  is a thorough reconstruction of the team and the takeover of the team during the competition by an experienced trainer Ryszard Poznański. Under his leadership, the team took the 8th place in the main season, which resulted in a promotion to the playoff phase. In the first round of the final part of the season GTK had to face the most titled club in our country, Śląsk Wroclaw. The competition ended with a 3-0 victory for the team from Lower Silesia and the Gliwice team ended their participation in the competition. In the 2011/2012 season the team was represented by: Tomasz Antoniak, Michał Damulewicz, Paweł Juraszek, Kosma Kołcz, Daniel Kubista, Karol Leszczyński, Przemysław Malona, Stanisław Mazanek, Paweł Mol, Łukasz Nawrot, Maciej Piszczek, Grzegorz Podulka, Grzegorz Sobański, Maciej Soehrich , Tomasz Stankala, Paweł Szymański, Kamil Wania and Tomasz Wróbel.

Season 2012/13

 

After the previous season there was another change of coach. Grzegorz Pinkowski became a new GTK trainer. Stanisław Mazanek also finally ended his professional career and focused only on the work as the assistant of the head coach. The team was joined by players with experience in the highest league, or even former Polish national team members, Mariusz Bacik and already during the season, Paweł Wiekiera. Other reinforcements were also: Emil Podkowiński, Piotr Pustelnik and son of Piotr Karolak, Bartłomiej, former Polish national team member. Gliwice finished in the fourth place with the balance of 13 wins and 7 losses. In the first round of play off the rival of our team was Sudety Jelenia Góra and although the rivals won the first match, the next two finished with GTK winning, which allowed to advance to the next round of playoff. In it, Grzegorz Pinkowski's team faced AZS AWF Katowice. Although the first meeting played in the capital of the province was won by GTK, unfortunately, the next two won by our opponent and this way the season ended for us. In the 2012/2013 competition, the team was represented  in addition to the previously mentioned by: Michał Damulewicz, Kosma Kolcz, Łukasz Nawrot, Grzegorz Podulka, Grzegorz Sobański, Maciej Soehrich, Tomasz Stankala, Paweł Szymański and Tomasz Wróbel.

 

Season 2013/14

 

For the next season the team started preparation under the same coach, and the goal was again the same - try to advance to the first league. The changes took place in the roster, Mariusz Bacik and Paweł Wiekiera ended their careers. Their place in the roster  was taken by: Michał Nikiel, Piotr Konsek, Mariusz Piotrkowski and Łukasz Ochodek who returned to Gliwice. The real transfer hit, however, was come back to the hometown of Artur Donigiewicz, who a few months earlier received the prize for the best rookie in the Polish Basketball League playing for Rosa Radom. Our team did very well in the main round and finished it in second place behind GKS Tychy with a balance of 19 wins and 3 losses. In the first round of playoff the GTK met with the Exact Systems Śląsk Wroclaw and this round ended with our victory 2:0. In the semifinals our opponent  was meritumkredyt Pogoń Prudnik, which we finally defeated in a 2:1 ratio. In the end, in the final of the playoffs, GKS was again better and won 2-1, what meant that they were promoted to the first league. In the season 2013/14, in our team played: Patryk Bajtus, Artur Donigiewicz, Artur Grygiel, Kosma Kołcz, Piotr Konsek, Jakub Maksymiuk, Michał Nikiel, Łukasz Ochodek, Mariusz Piotrkowski, Emil Podkowiński, Grzegorz Podulka, Maciej Soehrich, Paweł Szymański and Tomasz Wróbel.

 

Season 2014/15

 

Because of the failure to achieve the goal, Grzegorz Pinkowski was thanked for his work, and the team was taken over by duet: Stanisław Mazanek - Łukasz Kopera. The club also received a "wild card” from the authorities of the Polish Basketball Association and could start play in the first league. It was also possible due to the fact that the team could already play their games in the newly built Sport and Cultural Center Łabędź, at the same time saying goodbye to the hall of the Sports and Recreation Center of the Silesian University of Technology. There were also significant changes in the team. The majority of players which joined GTK had experience on the first league level: Wojciech Fraś, Norbert Kulon, Maciej Maj, Hubert Pabian, Grzegorz Paszek, Łukasz Paul and Dawid Weiss. During the season Maj and Podkowiński left the team, and Soehrich suffered a serious injury, but the team in the first season at this level played quite well and finally ended the season on the 10th place with a balance of 11 wins and 15 losses. In addition to the previously mentioned players in the season 2014/15 team was represented by: Artur Donigiewicz, Kosma Kolcz, Maciej Krakowczyk, Grzegorz Podulka, Paweł Szymański, Jakub Wania and Tomasz Wróbel.

 

Season 2015/16

 

Before the next season there were considerable changes in the team. Kulon went to Polish Basketball League and club resigned also from: Donigiewicz, Grygiel, Maksymiuk, Nikel, Ochodek and Piotrkowski. In their place, to the GTK joined:  Łukasz Bodych, Marcin Ecka, Dawid Morawiec, Maciej Piszczek, Piotr Pluta, Kacper Radwański and Jakub Załucki. Already after few games, it was clear that GTK did not function well in such roster. The team was joined by Artur Włodarczyk. Marcin Ecka and Hubert Pabian left, but it did not help much. A series of failures caused that in December the first trainer was change. The role of new head coach was taken by Paweł Turkiewicz. The existing coaches remained in the club as assistants. Club made also another transfer and Marcin Stokłosa joined to the GTK. Although the game was beginning to improve, finally GTK  finished  the regular season like a  last team in the league table. In the struggle for avoid relegation, we had to face ACK UTH Rosa Radom. After the first two matches of the competition we were losing 0:2, although at least one match should end with our win. Two defeats after overtime did not break down our team, which won two matches at home and for the crucial battle both teams had to return to Radom. In Mazovia, the hosts turned out to have to swallow the bitterness of the fall to the second league. In the season 2015/16, besides the previously mentioned players, our team was represented by: Wojciech Fraś, Maciej Piszczek, Grzegorz Podulka, Jakub Skiba, Paweł Szymański and Tomasz Wróbel.

Season 2016/17

 

Thanks to the club's efforts and the favor of the authorities of the Polish Basketball Association, the club was given the chance to secure place in the first league. Club accepted invitation and started build the new team. From the previous season, in the team remained only: coach Paweł Turkiewicz, Grzegorz Podulka and Kacper Radwański. In order to avoid the horrible scenario from a few months ago club decided to sign contracts with  experienced players, in some cases with some season in the highest league. In this way, to GTK joined: Damian Pieloch, Łukasz Ratajczak, Marcin Salamonik and Paweł Zmarlak who has been performing in our region throughout his career. The roster was completed by: Marceli Dziemba, Aleksander Filipiak, Michał Jędrzejewski, Dominik Rutkowski and Marcin Weselak. From the very beginning of the season, the team did very well and finally with a balance of 20 wins and 10 defeats ended the main round at third place. In the first round of playoff the GTK rival was Jamalex Polonia 1912 Leszno and the Gliwice smoothly dealt with the rival, winning 3:0. The same result ended battle with rivalry in the semifinal with the favored Max Elektro Sokół Łańcut. It was quite a surprise, because Dariusz Kaszowski's team has always been at the forefront of the competition for several years. In the final, which could give the promotion to the Polsih Basketball League, the opponent of Paweł Turkiewicz's team was Legia Warsaw. The team from  capital proved that it was the best one in this season and won the competition 3:0.

 

Season 2017/18

 

Good GTK performance in the season 2016/17, however, was noticed by the Polish Basketball League authorities and the club received an invitation to play in the Polish Basketball League. Owners of the club in Gliwice decided to take the glove, though many financial, organizational and structural requirements were met. The club joined the licensing process, and the License Commission on July 28, 2017 issued a positive opinion on the submitted documents and the club was admitted to the Polish Basketball League. The realization of our dreams in the form of rivalry with the best clubs in our country would not be possible if it were not helpful to many people. Starting from the President of Gliwice, Zygmunt Frankiewicz and his deputy, Krystian Tomala, through a large group of friends and sponsors of the club, ending with many people who GTK help in a selfless way.

 

On September 30, 2017 GTK Gliwice officially debuted in the Polish Basketball League. The first match was played in Krosno with the Miasto Szkła. Unfortunately, the debut was not successful, because the team led by Paweł Turkiewicz lost 82:76. Another extremely important date for us was December 2 2017, the day in which we played host in the Sport and Cultural Center Łabędź for the first time, and our rival was the recognized brand in our country and the later Polish champion, Anwil Włocławek.