University Sports Association of Poland


The Academic Sports Association is a mass students’ sport organization, one of the biggest sports associations in Poland. Its main objectives are the development of physical education, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and physical activities among Polish youth.
Currently, AZS has around 50,000 members, students of around 200 colleges across Poland. Students, associated with the organisation, can practice various kinds of sports as amateurs and as professionals. AZS sportspersons make up around 25% of members of Polish national teams; they are represented in all major sports events across the world, including the Olympic Games.

History

Early days

The AZS was founded on 15 May 1909, during a meeting of students, which took place in the Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University in the Grand Duchy of Kraków. Wacław Majewski, a medical student at Jagiellonian University, became the first director of the association.
In the Second Polish Republic, the AZS quickly developed into a mass organization, present in all Polish major urban areas. Number of its branches grew, and by 1939, there were seven of them:
In the 1930s, the AZS had around 3,000 members, many of whom were renowned on the international stage. Among the most famous AZS sportspersons of the interbellum period were Halina Konopacka, Roger Verey, Jerzy Ustupski, Władysław Segda and Adam Papée. The most popular sports, practised by members of the organisation, were tourism, rowing, track and field, tennis, fencing and skiing.
The quick growth of the organisation made it necessary to create a central office of the AZS, which would coordinate the activities of all local branches. It was created on 18–19 March 1923 in Warsaw, during a meeting of all representatives. The first director of the central office was Stefan Grodzki.

After World War II

As soon as the war was over, the AZS recreated its activities, and its main office was moved to Kraków. New branches were opened in all academic centres of Poland. In 1945, the AZS became active in colleges and universities in Katowice, Łódź, Gliwice, Wrocław and Częstochowa. More branches were opened almost every year:
The AZS is currently the most popular student organisation in Poland. According to its official webpage, it has 318 clubs, active at almost all Polish colleges and universities, both private and public. At each institution, there can be only one AZS organisation. As of 30 September 2007, it had more than 50,000 members. Its members have won numerous medals during the biggest sporting events in the world, including the Olympic Games. It has three sports centres – in Wilkasy, Gorki Zachodnie, and Zieleniec in Duszniki-Zdrój. It carries out activities in almost all kinds of sports.

Clubs

Sports teams affiliated with AZS, historically competed in large numbers in the top Polish leagues in such sports as volleyball and basketball. As of the 2025/6 season, AZS-affiliated clubs include: AZS [Olsztyn (volleyball)|AZS Olsztyn], who compete in the PlusLiga, AZS UJ Kraków in the Ekstraliga, and AZS [Poznań (women's basketball)|AZS Poznań] and AZS Lublin in the Basket Liga Kobiet.

Olympic gold medallists from AZS