International coaches
Basketball coaches from around world visit UD for apprenticeship program
12:01 p.m., Dec. 14, 2015--Last month, the University of Delaware hosted the third edition of the International Coaching Apprenticeship in Basketball (ICAB).
ICAB, which is funded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Olympic Solidarity Fund, Federation Internationale Basketball (FIBA), the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and UD, provides national-level coaches and sport development professionals from around the world with enriched basketball coaching skills and exposes them to American intercollegiate basketball.
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The program is organized and led by Matthew Robinson, professor of sport management in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics; Jeffrey Schneider, instructor in UD’s College of Health Sciences; and Saul Rafel Frankel, director of basketball operations for UD’s men’s basketball team.
This year’s ICAB participants included national team coaches from American Samoa, Bulgaria, Demark, Finland, Israel, Italy and Slovakia. Coaches were nominated by their respective FIBA regions and ultimately selected by the FIBA Coaching Development Department.
Participants received a full scholarship through the financial support of the Olympic Solidarity, USOC and FIBA to cover all of the associated expenses.
ICAB was created based on relationships formed during UD’s offering of the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program (ICECP), a multisport coach development program funded through the IOC and the USOC.
During the past eight years, ICECP has hosted over 200 coaches from 90 countries in 23 sports. Included in that number have been basketball coaches from countries such as Belarus, Belize, Chinese Taipei, Egypt, Iran, Sierra Leone, Kenya and Fiji.
“Olympic Solidarity and FIBA were interested in offering a basketball-specific program, and through the relationships we have formed we were fortunate to be asked to organize and host the program,” Robinson said.
The ICAB program consists of three modules spread over 30 days and includes a 30-day apprenticeship with a NCAA Division I basketball program.
This year, the first module included three days of lectures, panel discussions and presentations by:
- Sean Ford, men’s national team manager for USA Basketball;
- Tim Connelly, executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets;
- Tommy Sheppard, vice president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards;
- Edgar Johnson, retired UD athletic director; and
- Vince Nicastro, former athletic director at Villanova University and current associate director of the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova
During the second module, the coaches were embedded within basketball programs, attending all training sessions, individual workouts, team and staff meetings, film sessions and other activities related to the program.
The men’s programs at UD, Davidson College, LaSalle University, Lehigh University and Temple University served as apprenticeship sites.
“The strength of the program comes from the willingness of these basketball programs to grant access to the participants and their willingness to share,” said Robinson, who also thanked Frankel for his efforts in identifying host programs.
The ICAB participants also interviewed members of their host schools’ athletic departments, such as athletic directors, compliance directors and directors of athletic fundraising, to gain an understanding and appreciation of all that goes into basketball in the American university environment.
Participants also completed analytics projects using statistical models presented in the first module, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) that they were interested in tracking.
They also conducted a program analysis that covered basketball theory and styles of play, coaching philosophy, program management and an overview of staff responsibilities.
“Given the importance the University places on globalization and creating global partnerships, I am humbled to know that our program has been able to contribute to this important University initiative through our involvement with both the ICECP and ICAB,” said Monte Ross, UD men’s basketball head coach.
“I believe our program and student-athletes have benefited from the opportunity to interact with our international visitors this year from Finland and American Samoa, as well as the coaches we hosted in the past from Norway, Turkey and Chinese Taipei,” Ross said. “We hope the visiting coaches have gained as much as we have."
Danial Shashar, an ICAB participant from Israel who completed his apprenticeship with the Davidson College men’s basketball team, added, “Not only did the experience meet my expectations, it exceeded them.”
“I enjoyed it, learned from it, and gained confidence not only from the basketball parts of the program, but from every aspect of it,” Shashar continued.
LaSalle men’s coach John Gianni, whose program hosted Jakob Jorgensen from Denmark and a coach from Iceland last year, said, “This was an incredible learning experience for both Jakob and us. The staff and players enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to interact, share and learn with the international basketball community.”
The third module included a presentation on grassroots basketball initiatives and a trip to the Philadelphia 76ers organization, during which participants attended the team’s shoot around before a game with the Toronto Raptors, and met with the head coach, Brett Brown.
The coaches also had chance to interact with the Delaware 87ers coaching staff and attend the UD men’s basketball’s opening victory over Delaware State University.
In past years the ICAB program has hosted coaches from Iran, Turkey, Chinese Taipei, Demark, Norway, Estonia, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Estonia, New Zealand, Iceland, Finland and Belgium.