The Baltic Sea port of Gdynia has emerged as the hotbed of women’s pro basketball in Poland, thanks in large part to an impressive list of WNBA stars who have made their home there over the past few winters. This season, Gdynia’s hometown team of Lotos VBW Clima again features an impressive WNBA lineup, with Katie Smith, Chasity Melvin, Margo Dydek and Gordana Grubin – the team’s top four scorers – aiming to lead the squad to its sixth consecutive Polish League title.

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Katie Smith	Chasity Melvin
Margo Dydek	Gordana Grubin

“People think of Poland and say no way as far as weather and living here, but all I can say is don’t knock it until you try it,” said Smith, a fan of the local cuisine, especially potato pierogi. “You couldn’t be here if you really hated the cold, but other than that it’s a great living situation.

“Gdyniais a nice town – not too big – and it is next to the Baltic Sea so it is very pretty here. Our traveling and housing conditions are great, the grocery stores and restaurants are nice and have lots of options, and we have access to a great fitness club and bowling alley with pool tables. Movies are in English with Polish subtitles, and all our teammates speak English, so it’s not a bad gig if you ask me.”

Although Gdynia has firmly established itself as the top team in the Polish League, it reached new heights last season in its climb to the upper ranks of European women’s basketball. The team advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four in April and ended one game shy of its first title with a loss to the French team of Valenciennes in the championship.

All indications so far point to another successful year. Gdynia began with a 3-0 start in EuroLeague play to earn FIBA (the governing body for international basketball) Team of the Week honors on November 15. But there are still many hurdles to face before the season ends in the spring.

“It is difficult because teams want to break our record, which is like 72 straight wins [in Polish League play],” said Dydek, a native of Poland whose older sister Kashka also plays on the squad. “So it’s tough and we are not winning all our games by 25 points, but we are still winning.”

Smith played her first season in Gdynia last year and says she was comfortable making her initial journey to Poland because of the WNBA players who had preceded her. Ticha Penicheiro and Edna Campbell each spent two seasons in Gdynia, a good indication that the club made foreign players welcome, and other WNBA players who had spent time there included Marie Ferdinand and Elena Shakirova. Now in her first season with the squad, Melvin agrees that the winning tradition was a major selling point.

“I wanted to come to Poland because they are such a successful team,” said Melvin, who currently leads the club in scoring (17.5 ppg). “The weather is pretty cold, but as long as we win it’s a lot easier to deal with.”

(Photos courtesy of Lotos VBW Clima.)