The European Women’s Basketball Championship begins in Slovenia and Israel on Thursday. The German national team is there. Qualification succeeded for the first time in 12 years. With prominent support, the tournament should be a success. Because since the end of April, a top trainer has been in charge on the sidelines: Lisa Thomaidis. As national coach, the Canadian has already led her home country to the top of the world.
sports show: What did you know about German women’s basketball when you received the offer to become a national coach?
Lisa Thomaidis: To be honest, when I was asked, I knew next to nothing about the German team. Only when this surprising option presented itself to me did I take a close look at who the players were and what the history of the national team was like. Since then, however, my learning curve has been extremely steep.
sports show: How did the contact with the German association come about?
Lisa Thomaidis: The decisive factor was the German men’s national coach Gordon Herbert, who, like me, is Canadian. He let me know there was a vacancy and asked if I was interested. My first thought was: why not? Big challenge, big opportunity. Something completely new for me. The more I spoke to the German association, the more exciting it became.
The first thing I did was watch the team’s games in the European Championship qualifier online. Some national players have already played in the USA or in bigger European leagues. It was a lot of fun getting into it. Finding out who’s who? Which player has which strengths? And to develop a plan from that, what kind of basketball we want to play.
sports show: You have celebrated great successes as Canada’s national coach. At the Olympics you were in the quarterfinals, at the World Championships you were fifth and seventh. So your move to Germany definitely seems like a descent.
Lisa Thomaidis: When I started in Canada, the initial situation was very similar there. It also took some time to build up the team. We needed patience to get results. It’s the same here in Germany now. We are at the very beginning of a longer process. But I’m very optimistic about the prospects here. Especially with the 2026 Women’s World Cup in Germany in mind. This is really a very exciting time for German basketball.
sports show: How do you currently assess the quality of your team?
Lisa Thomaidis: We have a lot of young players who still lack the experience to compete at this level. A few in the team are already familiar with this situation. The hunger for success is huge. Now we have to find the right mix, a way of playing that suits us. We are laying the foundation for possible future successes.
The first qualification for a European championship in twelve years alone is a great achievement. Especially when you see how little training and playing time the team had together. I’ve set out to take the whole thing one step further.
sports show: Your most prominent team member is Leonie Fiebich. She was just voted most valuable player in the Spanish league. What role does the winger play in your team?
Lisa Thomaidis: Leonie is an outstanding talent. Unfortunately she had some health problems in preparation because we need her a lot. It makes a big difference to the team if she’s on the field. We’re a completely different team with her.
The German Leonie Fiebich in the litter
sports show: Marie Gülich also brings a lot of length to the team with her 1.95 meters. What is its meaning?
Lisa Thomaidis: Marie is one of our leaders. She has experience at the very highest level, including in the professional league WNBA in the USA. Almost as important is the passion she feels for the national team. She wants to be successful with the rest. Of course, it also helps us as a group that she is there.
sports show: In preparation, you now had the opportunity to work with your new team for almost a whole month. What do you think your players can do at the European Championship?
Lisa Thomaidis: To be honest, our biggest goal is to show that the team belongs there. That it deserves its place among the top teams in Europe. After all, this qualification shouldn’t be a flash in the pan that we then have to wait another twelve years for.
But it’s not that easy to survive at this level in the decisive moments when you often lack the experience of having experienced something like that. I also see this tournament as a very important starting point for future success.
sports show: When you work with a team that has been a spectator at every major tournament for many years, is it particularly important to give the players the confidence to compete against international competition?
Lisa Thomaidis: Yes, it’s really a big hurdle to have never experienced such a tournament. To develop this belief that you really have a right to be there. But the long joint preparation, with a total of six friendlies, helped a lot. We feel ready to go. Now it’s my job to continue to develop this belief in myself during the European Championship.
sports show: In three years, Germany will itself host the Women’s World Cup for the first time since 1998. To what extent do these current title fights already have a meaning in order to improve the position of your sport in this country?
Lisa Thomaidis: It doesn’t get any better than having an event like this in your own country. You get attention that cannot be compared to anything that has been given to German women basketball players in many years. We have to use a stage like this to inspire the next generation to want to be part of this team too.
sports show: Will you still be there then?
Lisa Thomaidis: We’ll see. After all, I currently have a job in Canada as a trainer at the University of Saskatchewan. So I can’t make any promises beyond this summer. But I can promise one thing, my goal is definitely to continue working with this team. I really enjoy it. So I’m quite optimistic about future collaboration.