Piotr Gruszka

Piotr Łukasz Gruszka (born 8 March 1977) is a Polish professional volleyball coach and former player. He was a member of the Poland national team from 1995 to 2011, and took part in 3 Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008).

Piotr Gruszka
Personal information
Full name	Piotr Łukasz Gruszka
Nickname	Grucha
Born	(1977-03-08) 8 March 1977 (age 48) Oświęcim, Poland
Height	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
Coaching information
Previous teams coached Years Teams 2014–2015 2016–2019 2017 2019–2020 2021–2022 BBTS Bielsko-Biała GKS Katowice Poland (AC) Asseco Resovia Norwid Częstochowa
Volleyball information
Position	Outside hitter / Opposite
Career
Years Teams 1993–1995 1995–1999 1999–2000 2000–2002 2002–2003 2003–2004 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–2008 2008–2009 2009–2010 2010–2011 2011–2012 2012–2013 BBTS Bielsko-Biała AZS Częstochowa Zeta Line Padova Alimenti Sardi Cagliari AdriaVolley Trieste Tourcoing LM Skra Bełchatów AZS Olsztyn Skra Bełchatów Arkas İzmir Delecta Bydgoszcz Halkbank Ankara CMC Ravenna AZS Olsztyn
National team
1995–2011  Poland (450)
Honours Men's volleyball Representing  Poland FIVB World Championship 2006 Japan FIVB World League 2011 Gdańsk CEV European Championship 2009 Turkey 2011 Austria/Czech Republic

Hand prints and signature at the Avenue of Volleyball Stars, Katowice

Personal life

Piotr Gruszka was born in Oświęcim, but raised in Kęty. He is married to Aleksandra (née Szettel). They have two children: daughter Maria Aleksandra (born 26 August 2005) and son named Julian (born 1 March 2010).

In 2014, he took part in the 14th season of Polish version of Dancing with the Stars. His pro dancer was Nina Tyrka. They were eliminated as 8th couple and took 5th place.

Career

National team

Piotr Gruszka was a member of the Polish national team that won a silver medal at the 2006 World Championship. In 2009, Gruszka won a gold medal of the European Championship, where he was named the Most Valuable Player. On 14 September 2009, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta.^[1] The Order was conferred on the following day by the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk. With his national team, he won two bronze medals in 2011: of the 2011 World League and 2011 European Championship.^[2]

Honours

Club

• CEV Challenge Cup
  • 2008–09 – with Arkas İzmir
• Domestic
  • 1994–95 Polish Championship, with AZS Częstochowa
  • 1996–97 Polish Championship, with AZS Częstochowa
  • 1997–98 Polish Cup, with AZS Częstochowa
  • 2004–05 Polish Cup, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
  • 2004–05 Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
  • 2006–07 Polish Cup, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
  • 2006–07 Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
  • 2007–08 Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów
  • 2008–09 Turkish Cup, with Arkas İzmir

Youth national team

• 1996 CEV U20 European Championship
• 1997 FIVB U21 World Championship

Individual awards

• 2003: CEV European Championship – Best spiker
• 2009: CEV European Championship – Most valuable player

State awards

• 2006: Gold Cross of Merit
• 2009: Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta