FICYMIs October 8, 2021: European youth dates, Schoormann, Mattisseck
Friday In Case You Missed Its: The dates for the youth European Championships have been announced; 2002-born talent Len Schoormann shines in season debut; Jonas Mattisseck talks mental health
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European youth championship dates announced
This week saw big news in the youth European basketball scene as the FIBA Europe Board announced the dates for next summer’s U16, U18 and U20 continental championships - Divisions A, B and C. The European summer will tip off on July 12 with the FIBA U16 European Championship 2022 Division C in Kosovo. The FIBA U20 European Championship 2022 Divisions A and B are set for July 16-24 in Montenegro and Georgia, respectively.
After a couple of days break, the spotlight shifts to the FIBA U18 European Championships 2022 Divisions A and B from July 30 to August 7 in Turkey and Romania, respectively, with the Division C running July 26-31 in San Marino. The Division A competition will serve as the European qualifier for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023.
The FIBA U16 European Championship 2022 Divisions A and B will be played August 12-20 in North Macedonia and Bulgaria, respectively.
Just a note, the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 is planned for July 2-10, according to the FIBA Calendar.
Len Schoormann shines in season debut for Frankfurt
Germany has no shortage of top talents and one of them is Len Schoormann of Fraport Skyliners. And the 2002-born point guard shined in his first game of the season. After watching the team lose their first two contests of the season - both in the easyCredit BBL league - Schoormann played a major role in Frankfurt beating EWE Baskets Oldenburg 75-67 in the Round of 16 of the German Cup. He connected on 5-of-12 shots and hit all six of his free throws for 17 points to go with 3 rebounds, 1 steal and just 1 turnover in 25:16 minutes. Schoormann averaged 2.3 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.3 rebounds in 7:26 minutes per game last season.
Berlin talent Mattisseck discusses mental health
Jonas Mattisseck has already accomplished quite a bit in his short career - winning back-to-back German league championships and one German Cup crown, advancing to become a German senior national team player and becoming a fan favorite of his childhood club ALBA Berlin. All that at just 21 years of age. But the 2000-born guard admitted things have been challenging over those years as well, and he discussed mental health in an interview with the German platform Watson.
“I think everyone has phases when things don’t go so well. What’s important is to not fall in and think: ‘What happens if it never gets better?’ But we have extensive help with that from our sports psychologist. I am also very young, and there will always be phases when it doesn’t go well, but until now I have dealt with it very well,” he said.
In an interview, you said that you were initially skeptical of a sports psychologist. Why?
“The word ‘psychologist’ is initially connected with the idea that you have a problem or something isn’t right. I have talked to a lot of athletes who have thought the same. But that is ridiculous. If you think about how many hours a week we train and work on our physical abilities, but at the same time don’t work on our mental strength for a second. You can be at 95 percent of your performance level and the sports psychologist can help you get that last 5 percent. That is an aspect that is now becoming more and more important in high-level sport.”