The Polish Women's National Team was founded in 1947. In their first official international appearance, the White and Reds lost to Czechoslovakia 1-3. Nevertheless, Poland soon joined the group of elite world teams and recorded significant achievements throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including two Olympic bronze medals in Tokyo 1964 and Mexico 1968.

Since then, however, the last three decades have not been so successful, although a sudden and very welcome change came in 2003.

New head coach Ryszard Andrzej Niemczyk returned to the post 26 years after his first stint and injected a new spirit and into a previously uninspired group of players. Niemczyk managed to get the best out of his players on the court and the team gradually rose in prominence, as was clearly evident during the 2004 World Grand Prix continental tournament, when they finished as runner-up to claim a spot at the 2004 Grand Prix.

The Poles also pulled off a huge surprise during the 2003 European Championships in Turkey, knocking off the hosts in straight sets in the final to claim gold.

Malgorzata Glinka was honored as the Best Scorer - and unofficially the MVP - of the tournament, while the team's captain, Magdalena Sliwa, received the award for Best Setter.

The team finished 8th in its World Cup debut, with Glinka again receiving the MVP honor and an award of USD $100,000 from the FIVB.

During the European Olympic Qualification Tournament, Poland beat Russia and Germany but fell to Turkey in the semifinals, losing its chance to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In 2005, the National Team proved it was back amongst the top teams in the world when it defended its European Championship. The team is now preparing hard to duplicate its success on the road to the 2010 World Championships in Japan, where it is aiming for a podium finish.

After the period of success, a period of stagnation followed in 2006. Despite vast preparation, the National Team was unable to reach the level it had grown accustomed to. After disappointing losses in Montreux and the World Grand Prix, the team went on to finish 15th at the World Championship in Japan.

Coach Niemczyk resigned due to health problems prior to the Worlds and was succeeded by the world famous Marco Bonitta who was tasked with steering the team to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Striving to push Poland back up the world rankings, Bonitta guided the team to fourth at European Championship and narrowly missed seeing his team qualify for Beijing at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament in Germany early in the year.

But Poland did enough to enter a World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan, winning the competition to earn a ticket to the Olympics after a 30-year absence.

Under intense pressure, Poland finished a joint ninth in Beijing.

2009 brings new hopes and a newly selected and very experienced coach in Jerzy Matalk, who is eager to show the best the team can play during the 2009 European Championship in Poland.