Bolesławiec is a town that has already made its mark on the map of Poland in many fields. The products of our local plants are well known. Bolesławiec ceramics are already appreciated in many countries. Bolesławiec has also produced renowned athletes from the BKS Bolesławiec club. The club was established in 1955 through the merger of small clubs such as "Unia," "Sparta," "Stal," "Gwardia" and "Górnik" Iwiny. The club has gone through various twists and turns typical of sport: highs and lows. But it continues to exist and remains present on the sporting scene. Forty years. This anniversary falls in December 1995. At this point, the greatest achievements of the athletes of our oldest club should be mentioned. The 1970s. The European boxing champion title was won by Ryszard Tomczyk in Madrid in 1971, where he defeated the Hungarian Batos in the final. In 1973, he again had a chance to become champion of the Old Continent in Belgrade, but only the Romanian Cutov proved better. In Katowice in 1975, R. Tomczyk won a bronze medal. Between 1971 and 1977, he was Polish champion four times and won tournaments in Poland and abroad. Bolesławiec—a small town in Lower Silesia—was known in the sporting world thanks to its "ambassador," as the press called Tomczyk, who brought it fame. The co-creator of this sole European title in the club's sporting history was coach Czesław Zawadzki, unfortunately now deceased, who trained Polish champions Stanisław Lechowski and Zygmunt Pacuszka. The boxing team under his care also won promotion to the second league. Besides boxing, weightlifting was a strong section. Trained by MSc Edward Bączek, the lifters won promotion to the second league, while the athletes achieved high places in tournaments and national championships. Ryszard Potyra, Kazimierz Juszczak, Zbigniew Gluba, Zbigniew Mucha, Leszek Rachuta and Krzysztof Prask are just some of the names from this section. In the classification of the Polish Weightlifting Association, BKS ranked third nationally among 51 first- and second-league teams, behind Odra Opole and Legia Warszawa.
Women's basketball, which was under BKS's patronage for some time, had a team competing for promotion to the second league. Halina Kaluta came from this team; she later represented Poland and Europe, and at that time played daily for first-league Wisła Kraków.
Footballers were always at the center of the interest of fans and club officials, but they never advanced higher than the third league. Nevertheless, the club can boast of developing many footballers valued on the football "market." BKS was and remains a "talent forge," but it cannot wait to see a team reach a higher level.
Henryk Maculewicz, a participant in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina; Józef Kwiatkowski (Śląsk Wrocław); Marian Galant (ŁKS Łódź); Zbigniew Szewczyk (Zagłębie Lubin); Zbigniew Mandziejewicz (Legia Warszawa); Bogdan Szczęsny (Śląsk Wrocław); and Marek Dąbrowski and Daniel Giza, until recently juniors, are players with BKS roots who were, are or will be known in the football world. Other sections also existed over the 40-year period—athletics, table tennis and men's volleyball—and achieved greater and lesser successes, but their operation was discontinued due to a lack of training facilities and funding.
The achievements of the athletes under the BKS banner were made possible mainly thanks to the workforce and management of the "Konrad" Mining Plants in Iwiny, which financed Bolesławiec sport to a considerable extent.
Today, Bolesławiecki Klub Sportowy has sections for football (in all age categories), basketball, volleyball, sports bridge and chess, as well as a handful of officials and coaches led by President engineer Edward Kaput, who remain committed to preserving what the club has despite mounting problems. The club's activities are possible thanks to grants from the City Office and Provincial Office, as well as support from various sponsors and sports enthusiasts such as "Ognik-Ekspert" from Legnica, "Rulimpex" Bolesławiec, "Polfa" Bolesławiec, "Ekocer" Nowogrodziec, "Surmin," Military Units 1259 and 4355 in Bolesławiec, Dariusz Mucha and others.
The club's constant shortcoming and greatest problem is the lack of facilities. BKS is one of the few clubs in Poland that has failed to develop its own training facilities during its 40-year history. No football pitch, no sports hall. A hall that, in BKS's best years, was taking real shape. To this day, ceramic plaques bearing the image of the planned sports and events hall in Bolesławiec can still be found here and there. Athletes feel the lack of a hall with even a minimal audience capacity very acutely. There is no such hall in Bolesławiec, and apparently there will not be one for a long time. The situation now is that our city authorities cannot overcome this problem without help from the province and many other parties. And a hall is not only for sport. It could also serve many other purposes. Congratulating all BKS Bolesławiec athletes and officials on their achievements, I wish them better times in the future. I wish the new board, elected in the November elections, many successes and the chance to reach the 50th anniversary in good condition, already in the 21st century. I wish that the word "Bolesławiecki" in the club's name would oblige our city authorities and sponsors to cooperate in creating conditions for sports for the athletes of our town. A town that already has 50,000 inhabitants and must have a stadium and other sports facilities worthy of presentation. It is a requirement of the times. Good luck.