By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The graduation ceremony of the FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate (FECC) program took place in Israel on Sunday, July 21.
The FECC program offers coaches from Europe the unique opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business. The program, running over a period of two years, focuses on the areas which are important in the identification and development of young talent while offering an opportunity to network with other coaches and complete a program that will increase their basketball knowledge, as well as help them to find a job.
FIBA EuroBasket 2017 winning coach and current Sacramento Kings assistant coach Igor Kokoskov, double EuroLeague winner and five-time Spanish champion Pablo Laso, and FIBA Basketball World Cup and FIBA EuroBasket winner Svetislav Pesic were part of the program this year in Tel Aviv. Pesic is a mentor of the project and has been a part of it from the very start.
52 coaches graduated from the program last week, with Gianmarco Di Matteo from Italy, Liz Schmitz from Luxemburg, Petka Lehtinen from Finland and Patrick Unger from Germany being awarded best in class. The certificates were handed out by FIBA Executive Director Europe, Kamil Novak.
“I am really excited and proud to see another batch of FECC graduates receiving their certificates today. The FECC really is a great program that was created to enhance and develop basketball coaches across Europe. Our lecturers are of the highest level in the world and I want to thank them for sharing their experience and knowledge” said Kamil Novak at the graduation ceremony.
FIBA Europe is awarding each of the four ‘best in class’ recipients, pictured below, with a one week internship at Real Madrid Baloncesto or FC Barcelona Bàsquet where they will get to work even more closely with coaches Pablo Laso and Svetislav Pesic, as well as experiencing all the behind the scenes action at team practices and also through the various youth programs being implemented within each club.
Pablo Laso said, after an on-court session in Israel during the clinic, “I’ve always said it is a great program. It’s a great opportunity for ourselves, coaches, to keep learning and progressing, but most importantly it helps us improve the level of youth players all over Europe.”
Coaches are nominated by their National Federations with the help of the national coaching associations and are then approved by FIBA Europe. To graduate all participants must attend three annual clinics in full and pass different exams at every stage of the program. The final exam consists of a final paper, written exam, oral exam and on court demonstration. Another 20 percent of the final grade is given through homework and workshops held since the start of the course in 2017.
The FECC graduating coaches are:
The 7th addition of the FECC will begin in Udine, Italy on August 10 at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2019.
For more information about the FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate click here.
Source: FIBA