For the dream of Europe, Martin Fürleger’s alarm clock rings every morning at half past five. The new sporting director of the women’s basketball Bundesliga club Angels Nördlingen has little else to do. In addition to his full-time job at the Donauwörth Employment Agency, the 35-year-old has recently been investing an additional 30 hours a week in his new basketball position. “It’s all really a lot and extremely stressful at the moment,” he groans tiredly into the phone: “But my medium-term goal, qualification for an international competition, cannot be achieved by whining, but by tackling it properly.”
It takes a good deal of courage to formulate such ambitious goals just a few months after a late playoff participation in the preseason. But a lot has changed in Nördlingen since the disappointment in March. Newcomer Martin Fürleger, who was previously responsible for public relations, has replaced his long-term predecessor Kurt Wittmann as sporting director. With the local construction company Eigner, a new main sponsor is on board for three years. And the team has got a completely new face. A change that apparently arouses desire for something bigger in the 14th year of series Nördlinger Bundesliga basketball. “Europe 2023 would be a real adventure for the city and the club”, says Fürleger and asks: “Why not set the goals high?”
The prerequisites for this are not the worst. Fürleger’s predecessor Wittmann has developed the 21,000-inhabitant city of Nördlingen into a recognized location in women’s basketball, which is economically sound and before the corona pandemic an average of 650 spectators came to the Bundesliga games, although the major successes did not materialize. And despite a lower budget compared to the previous season, Fürleger, coach Ajtony Imreh and temporarily also Kurt Wittmann have put together a squad for this season that makes this year’s goal of the playoffs, including entry into the cup final, seem quite realistic.
After the preseason, Nördlingen is now relying on more routine in the squad, for which eight new players have been brought in
Only young talent Mona Berlitz and the experienced Amenze Obanor remain from last year’s team. On the other hand, there are eight new players, some of whom were able to prove their skills on Sunday in the convincing first competitive win of this season in the Cup against Saarlouis (75:63). The performances of the Canadian Olympic participant and new captain Samantha Hill (14 points) and compatriot and power forward Meg Wilson (15 points) were particularly promising. The two Finnish wingers Elina Koskimies (15 points) and Anissa Pounds (10 points) also seem right to promise that they will become the cornerstone of the Angels attack. And particularly high hopes are placed on the regular US playmaker Asha Thomas, who is still out due to an injury at the start of the season.
What is striking about the squad is that it is significantly more experienced than last year and therefore deviates somewhat from the original Nördlinger principle of relying primarily on young, German young players. That was not only due to the competitive market for this requirement profile, but also to a conscious calculation: “Our young team had an extremely difficult time in the crucial phase of the preseason,” says Martin Fürleger: “Now we wanted to have more routine in the team, with that we are also fully there in the decisive moments. “
The Angels should definitely benefit from more experience this season in view of a corona-related one-time league from twelve to 14 teams. Especially the lower half of the table is likely to be fiercely contested in view of four relegation places. A good start in the league is therefore almost a must for the playoff season’s goal. Not an easy task at all with a starting program with only one home game (against Heidelberg on the second match day), which can take place in front of spectators. And three difficult away games in Herne (Sunday, 4 p.m.), with Meister Keltern and last year’s second Osnabrück.
Two wins from the first four games – that would be a successful debut for Fürleger. The sports director has not yet cherished international dreams in his debut season, although qualifying for the Eurocup in women’s basketball does not only depend on sporting success, but primarily on financial resources due to licensing. “But of course we don’t want to go this route as long as we are between fifth and tenth place.” At the moment, both are still missing: both sporting success and more financially strong sponsors. But maybe in two or three years? For the time being, Martin Fürleger will definitely remain an early riser.
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
