Eleven months before the home World Cup, the German Basketball Federation and its successful coach Lisa Thomaidis are parting ways.
Around eleven months before the home World Cup in Berlin, the German women’s basketball team is without a national coach. As the German Basketball Federation (DBB) announced on Friday, the association and the previous head coach Lisa Thomaidis have mutually agreed to an early termination of her contract.
The reason given was her professional workload as a coach at the University of Saskatchewan in her home country of Canada. This is incompatible with the extensive World Cup preparations.
Lisa Thomaidis has coached the DBB team since 2023
“Unfortunately, the general conditions no longer fit together”
“I would like to thank Lisa Thomaidis very much for the excellent work she has done for us. Unfortunately, the general conditions no longer fit together. I wish her all the best,” said DBB President Ingo Weiss.
DBB Vice President Armin Andres added: “Lisa has awakened women’s basketball in Germany in recent years. She has created a spirit of optimism and deserves great thanks for that. We will now take care of Lisa Thomaidis’ successor in a timely manner.”
DBB team reaches Olympic quarter-finals
Thomaidis took office in 2023, and under her, the German national team was strongly on the upswing. After finishing sixth at the 2023 European Championship, the DBB team qualified for the Olympics for the first time last year and made it to the quarter-finals in Paris. At the European Championship this year, the Germans achieved their best European Championship result since bronze in 1997, finishing fifth.
With players like Satou and Nyara Sabally or Leonie Fiebich, Germany has its most talented generation in the women’s division to date. A medal should be the goal at the World Cup in Berlin (September 4 to 13, 2026).