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Team Info:

Team Practice:

Team Practice every Monday at 10:00pm @ the - Odeum Expo Center (Upper Field)

Club History:

Introduction:

CKS WARTA - Soccer Club was founded on July 16, 1996 by Joseph Teluch and Marek Jakubas, who also became the first President and Vice-President of the Organization.
At first Warta played as Klub Wielkopolski under the supervision of Social Club from Poznan in Chicago, and as Wally's Market on a business vs business picnics at what later became the Polish Soccer League. The first member to put these teams together was Joseph Teluch. In 1995 a year later the same boys called themselves as "Pogon" played at the 41 Sports Club indoor House league for the first time. After the indoor season the "Picnics" continued until June 1996 as that's when they decided to become an affiliated Club and the name was elected as Warta, after Stanley Stawski's home town, Mr. Stawski (the largest Distributor of Imported Beer and Liquor from Europe, mostly from Poland) who became the first Honorable President of the Club.. - "Warta" is a big river running thru Poznan in Poland.

The first board members of the Warta Club was as follows:

Marek Jakubas - President, Joseph Teluch - Vice President, Wojciech Nowacki, Zbigniew Kupcewicz, Krzysztof Opiola, Zbigniew Wolas, Jacek Mysliwski, Zbigniew "Biueniu" Sadalski, Krzysztof Kossowski....

Competitions History:

Warta first affiliated with the National Soccer League (NSL) the oldest league in the Chicagoland area in November of 1996 to start the Indoor League. The first season in the NSL was a good start for this team led by a coach Zbigniew Kupcewicz, who finished fourth and only two points shy of playoffs. Outdoor season was much like indoor but this time Warta did not worry about making the playoffs because they finished first in their group Division and advanced to the First Division for next year.

In 1997 Warta has won the Second Division and were promoted to the First Division for the Outdoor Season.　 Year later still under the coaching by Zbigniew Kupcewicz, Warta has won the First Division Champions and a ticket to Major Division. Once again the Top Gun came out big, and as for the Coach who was named the Manager of the year of the Second Division in 1997, and Maros Havran Player of the year as well as the Rookie of the Year and ever since he was the top scorer in the league...

Season 1997/98 Indoor was the record setting by Warta, as they have won 15 out of 16 games and tying one (vs. Tricolor) as they advanced to Major Division and stayed there ever since. Havran has set the scoring record by First Division History with (43 goals) and Irek Baran with (25 goal). Warta had outscored their opponents by scoring over 200 goals and allowing only 36 that year (indoor and outdoor combine).

Major Division was not to count Warta from the picture, even that in the first indoor season they finished second from the bottom, but bounced back the very next years and finished second overall losing 5-1 to ADRIA in the finals.

Outdoor both next seasons Warta finished in second place of their groups...

In 1998 Warta has won the First Division Sectional Championship and a promotion to the Major Division.　 That same year Warta was elected as the Team of the Year for 1998.　 Same as year before, Zbigniew Kupcewicz and Maros Havran were named the Coach and the Player of the year.　　

1998 was a year when Warta "B" was established and started to play with the NSL indoor. Nothing special in the first two seasons, but outdoor Warta "B" was a threat as each year they have been improving for better.

Warta also was very successful in an Annual Polish Soccer Tournament. Not until the year 2000 and 2001 Warta was almost unknown to Polish communities in the U.S.. In 2000 Warta lost in a semi-finals to Podhale Chicago, but year later 2001 Warta has bursted out of nowhere and found themselves in the finals vs Vistula Garfield NJ, after a hard day of game by game Warta tied Vistula 1-1 in regular time and lost on penalty kicks.

Year 2002 Polish American Soccer Tournament was held by the last years Champs "Vistula Garfield" in Garfield New Jersey. Warta as any other team from Chicago went there with an intension to win this year, Warta came out as the best team from Chicago satisfying third place overall. Once again Warta was close grabbing this so called desperate trophy but came out short as they dropped one in semi-finals to this years runner-up (ZPA Perth Amboy - a New Jersey Team).

Warta as for one of the youngest teams is one of the most growing and expending teams in the Chicago land area and Illinois. Now Warta has still two Senior teams - Warta "A" in Major Division and Warta "B" in Second Division of the NSL. In year 2000 Warta has established a program for the kids, now a new section of Kids Under 8 who is affiliated with the Northern Illinois Soccer League. In 2002 Warta kids will expend into two team Kids U-9 and Kids U-8.

1999 was the first year that Warta "B" played Outdoor Season in the lowest Second Division and finished in the middle of the table by the end of the season.

Warta "A" has proven themselves in the 2001 year as they became the 2001/02 NSL Indoor Champs as they beat BH Lilies in the final 5:3 scores from Havran -2, Lechowicz, Bujdei, and Nachajski. Warta and their rival team BH Lilies came out in the same season and as Warta moved up the Lilies moved up too. Warta entire indoor season was the winningest team!

2002 Outdoor season for Warta was a little disappointment, after finishing strong Indoor Warta was expected to be the top candidate for the playoff and the league Championship. But Warta managed to win only few games and came out short of the playoff berth as they finished fourth in the division.

Not making the playoffs Warta turned to prepare the team for the cups, and it did payoff. Warta has won the state USASA National Cup and will represent the State of Illinois at the Regional National Cup in June of 2003. This win proved that Warta still has it and are still one of the dangerous teams in Chicagoland as they beat one of the top teams of the Metropolitan League (Green and White) in the final with a score of 4:0.

Also Warta "B" with their best indoor season as they made the playoffs, and lost in the semi-finals to the First Division Champs Winged Bull... but regardless the lost, Warta "B" had a great season which proved the strong club of CKS Warta had in year 2001/02.

2002 Outdoor season for Warta "B" was not so bad, they did not managed to advanced to First Division as they finished in fourth place, but did put a good show throughout the entire season, and Marcin Sierak the teams top scorer from indoor and outdoor was named Co-player of the Years in the Second Division by the NSL.

Warta "B" as a Warta U-23 did good in the cup games but lost in the State Final of the USASA National Cup to Chicago Alliance (0:3).

Marcin Sierak from Warta "B" was elected as Co-Player of the year for the year 2002.　 Sierak is the second Warta player to be selected and honored with this recognition.　 Maros Havran was the other and he did so three years in a row (1997-1999)...

Also 2002 was a year when Warta put together a Senior Girls Team under the coach Mr. Kasper of Foreman High School..　 The Team lasted only for one Spring season as the girls did manage to win few games but just could not compete against　 better sides... In Summer of 2002 this team was dispended..

In early March 2002, Warta has lunched its Official Club Web Site - ckswarta.com. The site with all the up to date news, informationes and updates.

The 2002/03 Indoor Season after finishing and winning the Overall Championship last season, Warta "A" came in with a new and younger team, but managed to make the playoff for the 5th consecutive year, but it did not come in easy as they fought to stay in Major Division for the entire 16 games. Warta lost their first game in playoff against Wisla SAC in a dramatic close match, and were out till next year.

Warta "B" came in short by an inch to reach the playoffs, after a good season but could not put the final exclamation mark to seal the deal.

As for Warta Kids, 2002 was the last season for that team under Warta, as they decided to switch and move to a different Club, now only the youngest of them stayed and still grow under new coach Tomasz Jankowski (a B-Team Player as well).

2003 Outdoor season Warta started with the same young and re-builted team and will try to equal or do even better as previous seasons, and Warta did reached their goal.

Warta "A" finished in second place behind RWB Adria with the same points but three goal difference, and made the playoffs - Semi-finals of the NSL Playoff Warta "A" lost to the Overall Champions Winged Bull.

As for Warta "B" they came short of few points to reach the playoffs after a very good season, but could not put the finishing touch.

The XVIII Annual Polish Soccer Tournament of North America hosted by Polonia New York i New York - Warta went with their strongest team using some of the guest players from Legovia, Adria, Maroons, and Gazzale, and under new Coach Teddy Kraft (since June 2003).

Warta won their three first games: vs ZPA Perth Amboy of New Jersey 2:1, Polonia Greenpoint New York 2:0, and Olympia Stamford Conn. 3:0- and lost one to Polonia Mielec of Chicago 0:2, on Sunday morning Warta needed only a tie to advance to the semi-finals - but the luck ran out in the 90 min when the REAL TRENTON of New Jersey scored of a Penalty Kick and sent Warta home with a 0:1 defeat.

The 2003/04 Indoor Season for Warta "A" was a strong start, as for most of the season they held the second spot in group, but losses to a lower ranking teams Warta dropped to third and stayed there for the remaining season, and which qualified them for a playoff spot.

The first playoff game vs a favors RWB Adria, Warta played an outstanding game and beat Adria (6:2) on 4 goals from Lukasz Zukowski, and single marks from Marek Marsal and Rafal Nachajski.

The second game vs Winged Bull, Warta ran out of steam and were defeated (1:6) a single mark from Lukasz Zukowski.

As for Warta "B" they finished fifth place in group and hopes for playoffs.

Despite a very poor start of the 2005/06 Indoor League, with five straight losses Warta "A" snapped out of it, and went on a nine undefeated streak games.. But it was not enough at the end to make the playoffs..　 For the first time in seven years the "A" team did not make the post season..　

Lukasz Zukowski finished as the team top scorer and was in the race for the Major Division Top Scorer with 21 goals, while Radu Giurgiu with 7, Traian Maier and Serafin Vega Jr. finished with 6 goals apiece.

Warta "B" proved their strong outdoor finish with taking over the third spot of the Blue Section of the First Division and made the Indoor Playoffs for the second time in their history.　 Unfortunately they were out in their first game against West Bosnia "B" loosing a close and emotional game especially in the second half 2:3.　 Warta being down 0:3 found a way to bounce back and pull within a goal, almost had a heroic equalizer with few seconds left but missed the opportunity.　

Warta "B" attack was one of the dangerous in the First Division as they were in the top among most goals scored by a team,　 as Piotr Maciantowicz had 23 goals, Jan Marzec with 13 and both Andrzej Jarzabek and Sebastain Mielcarek with 12 goals apiece.　

Going into the 2006 Outdoor Season, Warta "A" made few changes to their squad by bringing in few younger players, hoping to do much better then in 2005 as they found themselves out of playoffs in the final game after loosing to Jahbat FC 1:2...

Warta "B" made only few adjustments to their team, and will try to repeat 2005 season and move up to the First Division for the first time since its affiliation in 1998..

Year 2006 was another poor for the club, as Warta "A" finished in fourth place missing out on playoffs for the second straight year.　 Warta "B" finished their season in last place of the group after reaching the finals last year.

Besides their poor performance in the NSL the teams have done poorly in all competitions, as they finished in the last place of their group at the Polish Tournament which is the largest soccer event for the Polish Communities in the US.　 This was the worst finish in the tournament in club history.　 Warta failed in the Champions League as they earned only a point and finished dead last of group B.　 Same outcome was in the Green & White Tournament as well as the Baraboo Tournament.　 After poor finish in tournaments and poor performance in the league, the club decided to relieve their coach Michal Hriso.

The only spotlight of the year was, Marcin Sierak reaching his 100th goal for the club in all competitions.　 Sierak is the second player on all time scoring list to reach 100 or more goal for the club right with Maros Havran.

Warta once again has returned to the Indoor for the 2006/07 season with three teams, Warta "A" in the Major Division and both Warta "B" & "C" in the First Division.　 Neither team has reached the playoffs and for Warta "A" its the second consecutive year out of the post season as they finished in fourth place.　 The team had great potentials at the beginning but came short in most needed games.　 Warta "B" started the indoor season with a 6 game loosing streak and just with two points in the first half of the season, but later picked up a undefeated streak to finish off in a style.　 Warta "C" Team was mostly made out of young players from Elk Grove Village High School, not much was expected from them, but the team did surprised and shocked some teams by taking their points away.

Going into the 2007 Outdoor Season the club has a great player selection as most of them stayed with the club.　 Warta "A" has moved some of the "C" team players to the first squad and the rest of them joined with the second team players to create a competitive "B" Team.

　

The combination proved to be successful as Warta "A" almost grabbed their first ever Major Division Championship but ran out of luck at the end and finished in third place overall.

Warta B made a great run, not only reaching the playoffs for the second time in their history but also earned their promotion to First Division for next year as they finished in first place of the Section.　　Marcin Sierak the "A" team top scorer with 17 in League games and 3 in Cup Competition gave him a total of 20 goals for the season.

Andrzej Jarzabek finished as the B Team top scorer with 15 goals, and Grzegorz Sulocha earned his first ever Top Keeper award of the Second Division with the fewest goals allowed in a single season.

The Club made only few adjustments to the squad by bringing up the C Team players, as they proved to be the right choice.

Warta had earned an individual recognitions at the Annual NSL Banquet in 2007.　 Joseph Teluch was named the Manager of the Year Major Division, Krzysztof　 Pawlik as the Coach of the Year Second Division, Grzegorz Sulocha as the Second Division Top Keeper and Bart Sarnecki as been nominated for the Rookie of the Year Award of the Second Division.　　 The Club has not earned such recognitions for a while, the last time the names of Warta officials were awarded back in 1998 under the Coach Zbigniew Kupcewicz.　

The 2007 Season proved to be a recognizing year for the Club, by the NSL Officials.

In 2007/08 Indoor Season Warta struggled, winning just two games and earning a total of 7 points in 16 matches.　 For the first time since its promotion ten years ago, Warta was relegated.　 The Team performance was very poor overall.
Warta " B" survived relegation to new structured second division for next season as they finished half way in the table.　 Andrzej Jarzabek was the team top scorer with 17 goals.

And new to this kind of game, Warta C did very well for their debut season finishing also in the top six teams in the table.　 Rafal Dabek lead the team with 14 goals for the season, as they will be making their return next season with better ambitions.

After a poor Indoor Season, the teams came out hoping for a better 2008 Outdoor. Unfortunately Warta "A" found themselves in trouble again, loosing the first 9 matches before their first victory in week 10th of the NSL League. With the departure of some players, the team was building during the ongoing season, and before they got things working they were in last place without a point to show for.

The return of Marcin Sierak, Lukasz Zukowski, Stanislaw Radzik and Bart Lasek back to the squad with new faces such as Zbigniew Wojciaczyk, Miroslaw Wojtylo, and newly signed new players but still without their starting goalkeeper, the team finally found a break they were looking for most of the season, by signing back Piotr Romanek for the keeper position.

Warta "B" managed to climb up the table in newly promoted First Division, but ran out of gas towards the end and dropped back to the last six teams which gave them another task to face, the Classification Section and a fight for survival in that Division.

Both Teams finally managed to avoid relegation and will remain in the same Divisions for next year. A very poor start but a little stronger finish gave Warta "A" a good position in the final standings.

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