Sparta Bertrange will play this season without professional players. Next to Telstar Hesper, Sparta is one of out 2 teams that took this decision. No team will relegate at the end of the season while the best 6 teams will play for the title.
Sparta took the decision to play without professional players in order to develop their young players. What challenges does this decision bring for your team and how will it help in the long run?
We will for sure have to step up on all different levels. There’s nobody to hide behind anymore and we will take responsibility for our actions. Bringing in again imports (one of our players signed in Romania in the meantime) while we don’t know for how long, would cost a lot of energy, focus and time for everybody in the club. And that focus will go now for 100% to the development of our domestic players.
10 out 12 teams will play with 2 professional players in the men’s Total League. Does this surprise you?
Yes. Given the fact that the federation decided on a season without relegation I would have expected more teams to play without imports. In these challenging times it’s not impossible that some clubs will lose some sponsors. Playing without imports would secure their financial situation for the future. Or even better, these resources can be used to invest in the quality, the future and structure of the youth development in the upcoming years. And that is exactly what will determine their spot in the Total League and the level of Luxemburgisch Basketball in the longer run.
Playing with professional players against a team without « pros » creates an imbalance of strength. Do you think that the games of Sparta will be interesting to watch for neutral basketball fans?
Yes, absolutely. It’s an interesting experiment. The discussion about the number of imports is always around the corner here in Luxemburg. With a lot of pro’s and contra’s. Well, we will only know how it will look if we actually try it. And there’s no better timing than now to do it, given the fact that – unfortunately – this will never be a “normal” season due to Covid. And we see it as a huge opportunity and we will do everything to be competitive in every single game.
As a coach, what main challenges are ahead this season when it comes to developing individual players while the end results of the games could be very challenging?
Maybe the biggest challenge will be to improve the mental toughness. Sparta is a club with a rich tradition on the youth level. While they have won a lot in every age category, they will for sure have to cope sooner or later with losses. It will be a goal to turn every loss into a learning experience which improves us in the longer run.
On Saturday, Sparta will host the Musel Pikes to restart the season.
