New president of Swiss Basketball, Andrea Siviero wants to do everything to (re)give the Swiss orange sphere its letters of nobility.
“We have to get out of the stagnation in which Swiss Basketball has found itself for years,” he said straight away at a press conference on Monday in Fribourg.
The former Ticino player, elected just a year ago against Thabo Sefolosha, presented his strategic vision to the body’s headquarters. The project is enormous, he makes no secret of it. ‘Swiss basketball is experiencing difficulties, but I will do everything to ensure it progresses. The means exist,’ he assured in the preamble.
From the base to the elite through the next generation, Andrea Siviero reviewed all layers of the Swiss basketball community. The goal on a sporting level: to succeed in raising the average level of the Swiss 1st division championships (men and women). ‘The average level is currently not good enough,’ he concedes.
A graduate in political economy and business management, holder of a doctorate in economics, the former president of Union Neuchâtel also repeated his ultimate objective on the financial level: ‘We must create a Swiss basketball economy, in order to generate our own income, create jobs for players, coaches, referees,’ he explains.
Spread the base
Ex-LNA player and ex-manager, Andrea Siviero knows perfectly well the difficulty of leading a ‘real’ career as a basketball player and especially as a basketball player in Switzerland. ‘Players must be able to earn enough to consider it an interesting job in Switzerland,’ he emphasizes.
The first step for the Swiss basketball elite as a whole to benefit from such a development, ‘we must broaden the base’, he explains. ‘We need to attract more young people, more women and more German-speaking players. The potential is immense in German Switzerland, both in terms of the number of potential players and that of sponsors,’ he recalls.
‘Everyone has been talking about the infrastructure problems of Swiss basketball for many years. It’s time to act. In Switzerland, we have two professionally structured clubs, both in Fribourg, namely Olympic for men and Elfic for women. ‘It’s not for nothing that they are the ones who win titles,’ he whispers.
The CNBS in Magglingen from 2025
Aware that there is no magic formula or ‘button to press’, that fine speeches remain speeches, Andrea Siviero wanted to show that, although he only officially took the reins this summer , the first signs of this reform are very real. At the administrative level too, since he has already reduced the number of members of the Board of Directors from 14 to 10.
At the sporting level, a major decision has already been taken. The National Center (CNBS), whose flagship team plays in the LNB, will move next year from Lausanne to Magglingen, at the heart of the great Swiss sport family. ‘It is currently too far away. In Macolin, the kids will be able to study in their language, and in a public school what’s more,’ emphasizes Andrea Siviero.
A saving of 200,000 francs – out of the 700,000 that the project costs annually – will thus be made. ‘We will be able to double the number of kids enrolled in the Center, while reducing costs,’ he rejoices, stressing that the 200,000 francs saved should be invested in the creation of a similar Center for ladies.
The Ticino resident is also delighted with the creation of around twenty mini-basketball schools in just one year in German-speaking Switzerland. ‘I hope that this will lead to the creation of new basketball clubs,’ he underlines, recalling that German-speaking Switzerland – Aarau precisely – will host the next two matches of the Swiss women’s team in the qualifiers for the Euro 2025.
How many clubs in the elite?
The project is immense, and the files are innumerable. Among the hottest and most recurring, that of the number of clubs to play in the elite of Swiss basketball. There are currently nine of them, both for men and women, and almost all of them are suffering financially.
Andrea Siviero knows that the management of this issue is sensitive, with the interests of the clubs in the background, or the emergence of 3×3 which could force players to specialize in the near future. Should we tighten the elite in order to offer a higher average level of play, or on the contrary expand it to allow the greatest number of players to flourish? It’s up to the president and his team to find the right answer(s).
/ATS
