Leipzig. The children of the 5a of the Leibniz-Gymnasium still have a lot of work to do. The lay-ups rarely hit their target, the passing game has to be faster and the lack of height in particular seems like an elementary disadvantage. But the Leipzig schoolchildren definitely had fun on Monday morning when they visited the Bundesliga players from MBC Weißenfels. And the pros around the American Chris Coffey also enjoyed the special training session. “The doctors estimate that I won’t be really resilient and able to play basketball until May – so it’s all the better that I can get the kids excited about it now,” says the 24-year-old, who injured his calf in February.
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“The children have been sitting at home a lot in the last two years. Basketball is now just the right thing to get moving again,” said deputy headmistress Annett Böttcher, opening the sports lesson and thanking the MBC for her visit. The children in the course hardly noticed the lack of exercise during the pandemic. Among the highly motivated kids from 5a there were also a few talents from the eighth grade. “We’re currently having basketball in class. There will be grades tomorrow,” says Santiago Matilla, who used the hour with the pros for one last training session and did quite well.
“Of course I’m always on the lookout for talent,” says youth director Mario Leuschner, who has been working with the little ones on ball feeling and athleticism for 28 years now. Of course, there is no big help for the upcoming games of the MBC pros, but “if you do well, you come to us in the youth or to our cooperation partner, the USC Leipzig,” says Leuschner.
The Weißenfels team could use competent support at the moment. Not only the absence of top performers like Coffey or Johannes Richter are causing problems for the club, but also the tough program in the coming weeks, which will decide whether the wolves stay in the league. With 18 points, the MBC is ranked 16th in the league after 27 games and must absolutely maintain this place. That takes strength, because within a week, Alba Berlin, FC Bayern and finally the Central German derby against Niners Chemnitz will be played.
