Future Stars 2010 took place over two successive weekends in two different European cities, London and Krakow. The Event in Krakow took the Future Stars Event to a whole new dimension. Thanks to the co-operation with the Malopolska Region, the City of Krakow and NBA player, Marcin Gortat’s MG Foundation, the organisers of Future Stars were able to build a specially constructed open-air court in one of the main squares in the centre of Krakow to showcase a Festival of Basketball which became a major tourist attraction for thousands of people.
Future Stars International Tournament 2010 London
The 3rd Future Stars 2010 International Junior Basketball Tournament took place in London at Kingston College from 9th 11th July 2010.
The outstanding line-up featured several must-see international U18 teams, all of whom appeared less than two weeks later at the 2010 U18 Mens European Championships. The European Division A U18 national teams from France, Croatia, Sweden and Poland were joined by the U18 English national team and by the host Richmond Select team. The Richmond Select team was put together by London United Basketball Club in partnership with The Luol Deng Foundation and was made up of experienced youngsters from the Richmond College Basketball Academy, together with other gifted and talented young basketball players from all over London.
The Tournament was won by the impressive national U18 team from Croatia who narrowly beat Poland in the Final. The Tournament MVP was the very exciting future star, 1994 born Croatian player Dario Saric who, after representing Croatia at both the U18 and U16 European Championships in August 2010, was named MVP at the U16 Championships.
Future Stars Coaching Clinic London 2010
The Futue Stars Coaching Clinic in 2010 once again managed to secure internationally renown high profile speakers to lead the conference. The three keynote speakers were Zare Markovski, Slobodan Subotic and Olle Luden. Slobodan Subotic, a former professional basketball player who turned to coaching after his retirement has been head coach of such well-known European Clubs as Panathinaikos, Aris Thessalonica, Olympiacos and most recently KK Split. Coach Subotic also spent two years as head coach of the Slovenian National team.
The other keynote speaker was Zare Markovski who, for many years has been the very successful head coach of several Clubs in the Italian Lega A. As head coach of Virtus Bologna, Markovski led his team to third place at the EuroCup Final Fours in 2007. Also in 2007, Markovski was named as coach of the FIBA Europe All-star team. Earlier in his coaching career Markovski was also head coach of the Macedonian national team.
Completing the line-up of international coaches will be Olle Lunden, the current Swedish national U18 head coach who led the Swedish junior team to victory in the FIBA U18 European Championship Men 2009 Division B, thereby gaining a much deserved promotion to Division A in 2010.
Future Stars International Tournament 2010 Krakow
The 1st Future Stars 2010 International Junior Basketball Tournament in Poland, organised in conjunction with the Polish Basketball Federation, took place in Krakow from 16th 18th July, immediately after the Future Stars England Event.
Sponsored by 4Move sports drink and the Malopolska Region, and delivered in partnership with Marcin Gortats MG13 Foundation, the Event in Poland was named 4MOVE Future Stars Małopolski Festiwal Koszykówki z Marcinem Gortatem.
Basketball fans in Krakow were entertained by the young future stars in the National U18 teams of Spain, France, Slovenia, Sweden and Poland and from Richmond upon Thames College in London. Such an impressive line up of teams made the Tournament one of the strongest junior events ever organised in Poland.
The Polish Tournament winners were the very impressive Spanish U18 national team who, in heart-stopping fashion, beat France in the Final with a buzzer-beating three point shot.
Future Stars Coaching Clinic Krakow
The Future Stars International Coaching Conference in Poland was organised in conjunction with Marcin Gortat and his MG13 Foundation, the Academy of Physical Education in Krakow and the Krakow Basketball Federation and was aimed primarily at coaches working with the junior age group.
Marcin Gortat, who is currently with the NBA’s Orlando Magic spoke about the importance of the Progression Pathway from promising junior player to NBA star. Gortat brought with him an exciting team of coaches and former players from Orlando Magic.
Over 150 coaches had an opportunity to participate in lectures delivered by a remarkable collection of world-renowned coaches from both the USA and Europe. The European coaches were led by Coach Aito Garcia Reneses, who led the Spanish National Team to the Silver Medal at the Beijing Olympic Games. Coach Reneses has not only won countless trophies on the international stage, but also possesses a wealth of experience in dealing with emerging young players. During his years at Juventut Badalona, he was instrumental in nurturing the young talents of Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez.
The American coaching philosophy was represented by assistant coach from Orlando Magic Bob Beyer and current NBA player Ryan Anderson. Completing the line up from the US was Orlando Magic’s strength & conditioning coach, Joe Rogowski, who revealed some of the secrets of the strength and conditioning preparation undergone by NBA players.
Finally, the organisers were also very excited about a lecture which was delivered by members of the coaching staff from the Polish U17 National Team which summarised their performance in the World U17 Championships in Germany. This lecture also provided the opportunity for a discussion about the new trends in junior basketball observed during this tournament.
Future Stars Community Event Krakow
Future Stars Poland was designed with the idea in mind that all people involved in the sport of basketball could find a form of active participation. To ensure that, Marcin Gortat ran a Camp which attracted 150 children and young people. There was also a 3×3 Streetball Competition open to over 100 teams and, for more traditionally minded players, there was an Amateur League Championship of 24 teams. These events attracted massive media attention including National TV coverage.
To view video from the 2010 events please click here.