New Polish governing body is aiming to make football great, one play at a time.

It took almost a decade but finally, in  February 2020, a general assembly was held in Poland among all the American football clubs, and the Association of American Football in Poland, AAFP, was formed with an elected board.

Dawid Biały, most recently  a football journalist and commentator, was  elected as President of the new AAFP along with a four-member Board: Izabella Kalinowska VP of Finance, Karolina Janas  Secretary General, Bartosz Zbroja VP of Development, and Przemyslaw Klinger, Board Member.

The AAFP will focus its efforts on rebooting the National Team Program, improving the junior league system, re-starting coaches, team managers education programs, and expanding international cooperation. The  Association of American Football in Poland is in the process of obtaining recognition from IFAF and the Polish  Ministry of Sport and Tourism. On April  3, the AAFP  was accepted as a member of the Polish Non-Olympic Committee, an organization aimed at the promotion and development of non-Olympic sports.

It is worth mentioning that the board of the now-defunct Polish Federation of American Football – PZFA, which in recent years acted as Poland’s National Governing Body– was not elected by the clubs- its main financial contributors.  The “No Taxation without Representation” demands led to the split in 2017 and the creation of the  LFA – The League of American Football, the current league operator, and the march towards having  an NGB with a system of checks and balances.

The league season in Poland was scheduled to start in late March  2020, and per a statement from March 12, on the official LFA Facebook page has been suspended indefinitely.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, the AAFP has been working closely with the Polish Ministry of Sports and Tourism to create the “Return to Football “ roadmap.

Dawid Bialy:

“As the NGB our role is to assist and support the LFA in their efforts to organize the 2020 season, with a possible starting date of the last weekend in August. With the recent restrictions lifted, teams are now able to practice and there is a possibility of a return to playing football in Poland this year.”