On June 21–22 in Wrocław, the team representing the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade (10BKPanc) took part in the first Polish Cup for Companies and Workplaces in football.
Almar Sport invited the armored troops to the Polish Cup. The company has been organizing similar events in various disciplines for years. The brigade had taken part in volleyball events organized by the company, earning recognition in the civilian community through its play and conduct. As a result, soldiers from Świętoszów are welcome participants in tournaments and sports competitions.
Fifty-six teams representing various companies and workplaces from across Poland took part in the competition, including mining, energy, banking and construction companies, among others.
The competition format was fairly complex. On the first day, the teams competed in 11 groups (10 groups of five teams and one group of six). The brigade was placed in the six-team group, from which four teams advanced. The advancing teams moved into six further groups (two groups of three and four groups of four), whose winners advanced directly. Our team was placed in a three-team group. After the group stage, the knockout competition began.
The 10BKPanc team played 11 matches throughout the competition, recording nine wins, one draw and one defeat, with a goal difference of 22:8.
“We won the first match fairly comfortably, 3:1, against ZZG KWK Wieczorek. In the second match, which decided whether we would progress to the next stage, we played Delaval Wrocław (a company producing industrial equipment). After an extremely hard-fought and unlucky game, we lost 0:1. An exceptionally glaring lack of finishing, in addition to the defeat, affected the team’s morale and overall performance,” the soldiers recount. “As is often the case, every tournament includes one weaker match. Fortunately, this one did not ultimately determine whether we would be eliminated, as our team’s better goal difference decided first place in the group. We did not give up after that defeat; we regrouped, and the following matches went better.”
After finishing first in the group, the 10BKPanc team advanced to the knockout stage. In the round of 16, its opponent was EMIT Żychlin (an electrical machinery plant), which lost 4:0 to our team. In the quarterfinal, the armored troops faced Alstom Power Wrocław (a company producing metal, aluminum and steel structures), but once again the soldiers dominated on the field and proved superior, winning 1:0.
In the semifinal, the brigade team again defeated Dekorglass Działdowo, an opponent from the first day of the competition, 1:0, thereby advancing to the final.
In the final, 10BKPanc defeated ZZ Kadra KWK Piekary Śląskie, also by a score of 1:0. The first half and most of the second were clearly controlled by our players, but the 1:0 score kept the match tense until the end. Especially in the final two minutes, when the opponents risked everything and decisively took the initiative, creating several good opportunities to equalize. At those moments, st. szer. Marcin Kozdroń demonstrated outstanding goalkeeping. Throughout the tournament, he shared goalkeeping duties with szer. Tomasz Kowalczyk.
Among other things, thanks to his final interventions, st. szer. Marcin Kozdroń was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper, while the 10BKPanc team triumphed in the first Polish Cup for Companies and Workplaces in football, receiving medals and an impressive trophy from the organizers.
In addition, st. szer. Janusz Szkarapat was named the tournament’s best player by the organizers and coaches of all the teams.
10BKPanc team:
Maj. Sławomir Wąs – Physical Education and Sports Section
Junior Warrant Officer Sławomir Iskrzak – Command Battalion
Cpl. Adam Marcinkowski – Command Battalion
St. szer. Krystian Chruścicki – Mechanized Battalion
St. szer. Janusz Szkarapat – Mechanized Battalion
St. szer. Daniel Szkarapat – Mechanized Battalion
St. szer. Marcin Kozdroń – 1st Tank Battalion
St. szer. Piotr Chlabicz – Mechanized Battalion
St. szer. Łukasz Iwaniak – Mechanized Battalion
St. szer. Marcin Łojko – Mechanized Battalion
St. szer. Sebastian Tylutki – Mechanized Battalion
St. szer. Kamil Ganczarek – Mechanized Battalion
Szer. Tomasz Kowalczyk – 2nd Tank Battalion
Szer. Jacek Adamowicz – Command Battalion.
(information: 10BKPanc/ii)