Around 30 years ago the… Basketball-Department of TB Sigmaringen founded. Until the corona pandemic, everything went according to plan for the Danube basket hunters – but then a deep turning point followed.
Long-term ambitions
“Most things have come to a standstill,” reports department head Karsten Köhler. “The training continued, but there were no longer any games.” Basketball was dormant in Sigmaringen for a long time before it started again a year and a half ago. “We started playing again with one team. This season we now have a men’s team and two youth teams at the start,” said Köhler.
The U16s signed up for the second half of the season due to some disagreements within the team, but the U14s are at the top of the district league and can even become champions. The men are currently at the bottom of the district league and have only managed one win. “We made a complete restart,” explains Köhler. “Some of the players have never played basketball in a club before and are learning a lot under coach Holger Herms. He is also ambitious to build something up and establish it in the long term.”
We don’t have enough trainers to serve everyone who is interested.
Karsten Köhler
According to the TB official, the young talent and interest in basketball are not a problem these days. “In the surrounding area there are only clubs in Riedlingen or Albstadt,” says Köhler. “Accordingly, the players spend up to half an hour driving time. There is a lack of capacity at the moment. We don’t have enough trainers to be able to serve everyone who is interested.”
The Sigmaringers had already offered children’s training in the recent past. “But that hasn’t really become established,” admits Köhler. “We sometimes had up to 50 children in the hall at once. And with three trainers you reach your limits at some point – especially if another trainer leaves.” So it’s currently starting with the U12 TB basketball players. “We already offer training,” says Köhler. “And then the U14s start playing.”
Important home games
Next Saturday there will be another home game day in Sigmaringen. At lunchtime the U14s will play two games before the men go hunting for points against TG Bad Waldsee at 4 p.m. After that, two more home games are scheduled for the active team in the district league this season: on March 21st against BG Bodensee 2 and on April 18th against TSV Ebingen. The goal: to gain further success and valuable experience in order to be able to bake bigger rolls again in the future.
