Head-coach Mariusz Dziurdzia and his assistant Jérôme Altmann are currently preparing team Luxembourg for the European Championship of the small countries (July 20-25) in Cyprus.
In group B, the FLBB-squad will face Gibraltar, Cyprus and Kosovo. For head-coach Dziurdzia, it will be a great challenge after a long period without games by our national team: „It is extremely difficult to predict our chances in this European Championship because we do not have a lot of information about our opponents. Clearly our main goal is to come home with a medal. We have not played a game the last 2 years and we have never played a game with this group of players. Our initial roster of 14 players was the best possible roster. Lisa Jablonowski, Catherine Mreches and Esmeralda Skrijelj have joined the team, so that we have become stronger, but we need to learn how to play together. On paper, our team is very strong and we are happy that we have our best players available (with the exception of Tessy and Mandy).“
With the absence of Mandy Geniets (exams) and Tessy Hetting (recovering from Covid-19 virus), two „very important players are missing in our team. Tessy has been part of the team in every event for a very long time and she will be missed on anf off the court. It is kind of strange to play without her because she has always been there. However, her health situation is clearly more important than the tournament. »
Some young players have entered the national team, the future is looking bright for Luxembourg: „We are currently on the right track and we are already playing at a good level. We have a roster of 20 players in total with some U20 players that are not able to compete this year because they are playing the U20 European Championship just before our tournament. A lot of the young U20-players have the quality to become a part of the women’s roster over the next years. Svenia, Anne, Estelle and Catherine are all around 20/21 years of age and they are already on our roster. When our experienced players will retire, the young players will be able to take over which is a great sign for a national team. My wish is that our young players will have the same mentality and be just as focused on basketball as the experienced have been in the past. A lof of our players have been with the team every year, they did not go on vacation and were always available. I hope that the young players will have the same approach and be proud to play foir the national team every year.“
Interviews with players:
Nadia Mossong: team captain and leader of team Luxembourg
Rookie Catherine Mreches wants to continue an exceptional season
Esmeralda Skrijelj will make her debut in the Luxembourgish national team
Before her career definitely ends, Michèle Orban is ready for another challenge
Anne Simon: “I am looking forward to the challenge with the national team”
