On Friday, June 21 this year, the competition to determine the best of the best at the Open Polish Armed Forces Football Championship was concluded in Żagań. After five days of competition between the teams representing the 11th Lubusz Armoured Cavalry Division, the Navy, the Inspectorate for Armed Forces Support, the Warsaw Garrison Command, the 12th Szczecin Mechanised Division, the 16th Pomeranian Mechanised Division and the Air Force, it was time to honour the best teams.
The semi-final matches were fiercely contested. As a result, the teams representing the Black Division and the 12th Szczecin Mechanised Division qualified for the final. The final between the two teams was held the following day. The Thursday evening match on the main pitch of the Arena sports complex provided the spectators with plenty of excitement.
At half-time, the 11th Lubusz Armoured Cavalry Division players were losing 0–1, but the following minutes of the second half brought a mobilisation of the players competing under the sign of the hussar wing, and the match ended with a 4–1 victory for the Black Division. Thus, the DGRSZ Group I team—Jakub Wołyński’s team—the 11th Lubusz Armoured Cavalry Division—won the cup in this year’s championship and the title of “Polish Armed Forces Football Champion.” Second place went to the 12th Szczecin Mechanised Division, while the 16th Pomeranian Mechanised Division from Białobrzegi finished third.
Congratulations are due to everyone, both the players themselves and the coaches (Jakub Wołyński, Sebastian Tylutki and Grzegorz Tychowski—editor’s note). The Black Division team prepared for the Polish Armed Forces Championship using the sports facilities of the Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre in Bolesławiec (in a friendly match, the soldiers defeated BKS 3–0—editor’s note). The organiser of this year’s Championship—the 11th Command Battalion—must also be mentioned here; it took care of every detail of the event long before the first referee’s whistle sounded.
In just a few days, the Black Division athletes will face another training challenge. This time, the soldier-athletes will compete for a podium place during the Military Spartakiad in Poznań.
