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The Dragons Den
The Quakenbrueck Story
I don’t know how many out there agree with me when I say that the period, 1999 through 2008, represents the golden years in Quakenbrück.
I’ve often talked about the youth program and the women’s program and how successful I think they were during this period.
But to be honest, their success would not have been possible had it not been for the existence of the Artland Dragons men’s team.
I have to start by thanking our sponsor and his wife for their support.
They made it possible for us to build a program that was successful.
It wasn’t just about the finances he put into the program, it was just as much about his allowing us to make choices and build the program, according to what we felt fit our needs.
I had worked with enough clubs to experience the difficulties of having someone, especially the one responsible for the finances, thinking that they were the ones who had to make the decisions on who played, and how much they played, etc.
From day one, Guenter Kollmann allowed us to build a program as we saw fit. Yes, there were times he’d come into the gym while we were having tryouts, and watch.
I can remember Chris telling a particular player that we liked, that no matter what he did, he had to make at least one “3” during that workout, for the sake of the guy in the stands.😂
Everything just seemed to fit. Marko Beens did his job as manager as well as it could be done. Julia Fischer in the office was as efficient as they come. She took care of everything from plane tickets to hotels to work visas for the players, there was nothing she couldn’t handle .
The entire staff in the Dragons’ office was perfect.
Then there was Chris Fleming!
If ever, there was a young man, born to coach, it was Chris. It was a great atmosphere. The exchange of information and ideas between us just seemed to work.
That’s a part of what made it so easy to put a team together and play good, solid basketball.
It wasn’t just about the players and their talent, it was about the players as people.
One of the things necessary, at least for me, to coach a team is to have players that I liked and that I enjoyed being around.
We had a great group and that made it fun.
There were so many that I enjoyed working with.
Johnny McNeil, Michael Jordan, Nils Becker, Mislav Jukovic, Holger Thamm, Arne Woltmann, AJ Grainger, Jan Rohdewald, Bryan Bailey, Konstantinos Stravopolous, Daniel Strauch, Demekksa Duresso, Darius Hall, Adam Chubb, Adam Hess, Jamie Duncan, Oliver Braun, Townsend Orr and the two youngsters Alex Schwarz and Steffen Mueller…. just to name a few.
I honestly couldn’t wait for practice every day because it was just plain fun.
We worked really hard, but we had fun and that made it not feel like work.
We all got along, except when someone would disagree with a call that I made when I was refereeing scrimmages.🤬
The crowning moment was that “Championship Season”. We were still hurting from the memory of that first run at the title. Dragon Fans will forever remember the name “Dwayne Washington” (Hiss-Hiss-Boo!) 💥
That might have made the 2002-2003 Season that much sweeter.
The record-setting undefeated “30-0” run to the championship and the 1.Bundesliga.😊
In the Gallery are many pictures of my time with the Dragons and Chris.
The Artland Dragons
As a bonus, I have also put the entire collection into a video, which includes the “long” video of the Championship Season.
🗣️ If you can cast the video to your TV, I think you’ll enjoy it more.
https://youtu.be/Dirz70r_p4U?si=ZKh8KAHbzFhePKHT
It was a memorable time for me!
QTSV Damen
https://youtu.be/-vQP11AY4Bo?si=p5gw41daJHu3Ph49
https://youtu.be/_lZOL1VZAD0?si=EOu80qbKuHq-BG_r
Young Dragons
Dragons Teams
Thanks to the support of the Kollmann Family and a whole bunch of players and families who were "all in", we had a basketball program that was also a community. It was a lot more than "just basketball".
