Piestanske Cajky Women

Two youth systems in the same corner of western Slovakia, Basketbalový klub mládeže Piešťany and Mestský basketbalový klub Stará Turá, had spent years developing players with nowhere senior for them to go. In 2012 the two set up a joint senior side to compete in the Slovak Extraliga, and Piešťanské Čajky took the league floor for the first time that same season.

Growth showed up first in the building rather than the results — Diplomat Arena opened in October 2015 with room for 900 seated and 100 standing, and the club has played there since.

The results caught up. Piešťany won the Slovak Cup in 2016/2017, beating Good Angels Košice 59:53, then took the Central European Women's Basketball League in 2018/2019 and reached the EuroLeague Women that same year. The league title followed in 2021/2022 against MBK Ružomberok, and the season after that turned into something closer to a statement: a third straight championship came in 2023/2024. Terézia Páleníková, named the country's Player of the Year in 2022, has been the face of that run.

None of it has come with much peace at the top of the table. Ružomberok and Banská Bystrica's Slávia ŠKP have supplied the finals and the grudges.