Der neue FCB-Coach Michael Schwarz im Interview mit David Hein

heinnews’ David Hein sat down this week with Michael Schwarz, the newly-named head coach of the German basketball club Bayern Munich as well as the coaching coordinator for FIBA Europe. They discussed the recently-completed FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate program; the FIBA Europe U18 All-Star Game; the new foreigner regulations in Germany; his hiring as new coach at Bayern Munich; what changes and goals he has for the team; and what it’s like to be with the basketball team within a club so renown for their football team.

heinnews: Let’s start with the FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate. The first three-year program ended this summer at the U20 European Championship in Greece. What was the response from the coaches taking part?
Schwarz: We started with 60 coaches and after the exams at the U20 European Championship there were 40 who received their certificate. The feedback was very good. We had an anonymous survey afterwards and 80 percent of the coaches answered it and the feedback was very positive.

heinnews: You said there were 40 coaches who in essence passed the course. Is FIBA Europe satisfied with those numbers?
Schwarz: In the end, I think that’s a good number. At first, the program has to become recognized. Maybe not every coach was aware that they had to take part on all three courses (U16 the first summer, U18 the second summer and U20 the third summer) and that we are pretty strict. There were a couple at the beginning who figured they would just take a look at it for now. But I think now everyone knows about it. The feedback went back to the federations and even more coaches registered to take part. And the quality of the coaches – on paper – is higher than the first class. There are also senior coaches and national team coaches, which is not exactly what we are looking for. We want work with coaches who specialize in working with youngsters. But back to the first class, there were 44 coaches who took the exams and four did not pass them. Forty did and I think that’s a good number. The group was very good and motivated.

heinnews: A new group started at the U16 European Championship this summer in Lithuania. So there will be a new group every two years?
Schwarz: Yeah and that works out very well. Also because there is also the U18 All Star Game, which was very well received. So not only do you have the U18 All Star Game but you also have the best of the class – the four best coaches from the program – getting a chance to coach the teams at the game.

Zum kompletten Interview.