Polar bears Bremerhaven

Polar bears Bremerhaven
Founded	2001
Hall	Bremerhaven City Hall (4100 seats)
Homepage	dieeisbaeren.de
executive Director	Nils Ruttmann
Trainer	Michael May
league	2nd Bundesliga ProA men
	NBBL U 19 2012/13: 3rd place
	JBBL U 16
Colours	Blue-blue / white-white

The Eisbären Bremerhaven are a basketball team from Bremerhaven .

Club development

The regular gaming community BSG Bremerhaven was formed in 1991 from the basketball departments of OSC Bremerhaven and SFL Bremerhaven. OSC Bremerhaven previously played from the 1981/1982 season to the 1985/1986 season in the 2nd basketball league and was able to win the promotion round of the northern season of the 2nd basketball league in the 1985/1986 season. However, because the season could not be financed, they decided not to start in the basketball league and retired to the regional league at the time.

2001, the Lithuanian Šarūnas Sakalauskas was hired as the new head coach, who led the team in 2005 to promotion to the basketball league .

In 2003, the first men's team (which had been playing under the name Eisbären since 2001) of the BSG Bremerhaven was spun off into Eisbären Bremerhaven Marketing GmbH (EBM), Jan Rathjen took over the position of managing director. The BSG Bremerhaven syndicate is now cooperating with the Eisbären Bremerhaven in the youth sector.

In the first year of the game after promotion to the Bundesliga (2005/06), the polar bears were involved in the front and finished the points round in fourth. In the following playoffs they were eliminated in the semifinals against Alba Berlin . Sakalauskas was named “Coach of the Year” for the 2005/06 season by media representatives and his colleagues. He had also led the team to the cup semi-finals.

In the 2006/07 season, the polar bears were once again in fourth place in the final table of the Bundesliga points round, this time in the playoffs in the quarter-finals against Cologne. It took five games to determine the winner of the series. Once again they were among the top four in the cup.

In 2007/08 Bremerhaven had to bow again in the playoff quarter-finals (0: 3 games against Alba Berlin), in the cup they lost the semi-finals and secured third place.

The polar bears had to go through difficult times in the 2008/2009 season. 15 Bundesliga games were lost in a row and you found yourself in last place. At the beginning of 2009 Sakalauskas resigned as coach, his assistant and compatriot Algirdas Milonas took over the office. With only seven wins and 27 defeats ended up in a relegation zone at the end of the season. But due to the withdrawal of the Giants Nördlingen and the Cologne 99ers , two wildcards were advertised by the BBL and the polar bears were awarded the contract. This enabled the polar bears to compete in the top German league in the 2009/2010 season. They did so under the direction of Douglas Spradley , who was signed as the new head coach in mid-May 2009.

For the 2013/2014 season, the American Calvin Oldham became the new head coach of Eisbären Bremerhaven. He succeeded Douglas Spradley , who previously held this post from 2009 to 2013 and led the team to the playoff semifinals and the final tournament of the cup competition in 2010 and the playoff quarter-finals in 2011. Under Oldham, the Eisbären finished the 2013/2014 season in twelfth place and had no chance of reaching the play-offs.

At the beginning of the 2014/2015 season, the squad was rebuilt, but the sporting success failed again. After a series of defeats and slipping to 17th place, Oldham was relieved of his duties in February 2015. The successor was the Israeli Muli Katzurin , who had previously trained Alba Berlin and the Skyliners Frankfurt in Germany. Katzurin was fired in November 2015, his assistant Chris Harris temporarily took over the post before Sebastian Machowski was signed as the new head coach in March 2016 . As in the previous season, the polar bears finished the 2015/16 season in fifteenth place.

In the 2016/17 season, the team came twelfth in the table with a record of twelve wins and 20 defeats. At the beginning of May 2017, Managing Director Jan Rathjen announced his departure on June 30, 2017 after 15 years in Bremerhaven. Rathjen's successor was Arne Woltmann . After a failed start to the season with only two wins from the first 13 games, head coach Sebastian Machowski was relieved of his duties. His successor until the end of the season was Managing Director Arne Woltmann, who will continue to act as Managing Director of Eisbären at the same time. In January 2018 Woltmann handed over the position of managing director to Wolfgang Grube in order to concentrate on the coaching tasks. From summer 2018, Grube received management support from his son Mark and Marc Bergmann, who took up the position of deputy managing director.

With the help of the former trainer of OSC Bremerhaven, John Treloar , Grube made contact with the Florida- based DME Sports Academy , with which a cooperation was agreed in 2018 and which joined the Eisbären operating company as a partner. In addition, Dan Panaggio , the co-founder of the DME Sports Academy , became the polar bear's sports director from September 2018. On December 12, 2018, head coach Woltmann was relieved of his position after four defeats in a row, and sports director Panaggio took over the coaching position. However, the turnaround did not succeed under Panaggio, the polar bears remained without a win in all eleven Bundesliga games under his leadership, he resigned from the coaching position at the end of February 2019, his compatriot Michael Mai , who was previously assistant coach, was appointed as his successor. Panaggio remained the sports director. On May 9, 2019, the basketball Bundesliga announced that the polar bears had not been granted the right to play for the 2019/20 Bundesliga season. The reason given by the licensing league committee was insufficient evidence of equity. The Eisbären management announced that it would appeal the decision. However, this became obsolete because the polar bears were relegated on the last day of the game. The Eisbären, who won four of their last ten games of the season under coach Mai and had relegation in mind, lost their last game against the central German BC, while relegation competitor Crailsheim beat Oldenburg. As a result, Bremerhaven slipped to a relegation rank on the last matchday. Eisbären managing director Grube then accused the Oldenburg team of distorting the competition, as they had used additional players in their defeat against Crailsheim.

After the future of the polar bears seemed uncertain for a long time after the 2018/19 season, the team management announced in July 2019 that, thanks to the commitment of one of the main donors, they had obtained certainty about the economic framework and that they were ready to compete in the 2nd Bundesliga ProA decided. The sporting responsibility for the reconstruction was placed in the hands of Michael Mai, who signed a new three-year contract as coach at the beginning of August 2019 and also took over the duties of sporting director from Dan Panaggio. There was also a change at management level in summer 2019: the former Eisbären assistant trainer Stephan Völkel became managing director and replaced Grube, who held the office in addition to his work as a partner. At the beginning of September 2019, Völkel gave up the post again for personal reasons, and in the middle of the month the previous junior manager Nils Ruttmann took over the management. At the beginning of the 2019/20 season, the Eisbären won eight games in a row in the 2nd Bundesliga ProA before losing to Chemnitz for the first time. In November 2019, the polar bears revived the cooperation with the Cuxhaven Baskets , which had already existed in the past with the predecessor clubs, in order to provide players with funding opportunities and promote youth work together. Since the 2019/20 season was canceled in mid-March due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the polar bears were second in the table at this point, they were granted the right to promotion to the basketball league. The best Bremerhaven scorer in the 2019/20 season was the American Kasey Hill (17.1 points / game), followed by his compatriot Rohndell Goodwin (14.4 points / game). The Eisbären then submitted license applications for the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga ProA as a precautionary measure with a view to the 2019/20 season. However, the rise was not perceived because of the uncertainties in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and for the purpose of further consolidation in the second division. In the summer of 2020, Ruttmann became the sole managing director after Deputy Bergmann withdrew. Wolfgang Grube and Bergmann also announced at this time that they would be leaving the Eisbären operating company as shareholders.

successes

• 2000: Promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga
• 2005: Promotion to the 1st Bundesliga
• 2006: Entry into the playoff semi-finals (4th place after the main round)
• 2007: Reaching the cup final in Hamburg (4th place)
• 2007: Entry into the playoff quarter-finals (4th place after the main round)
• 2008: Reaching the cup final in Hamburg (3rd place)
• 2008: Entry into the playoff quarter-finals (8th place after the main round)
• 2010: Reaching the cup final in Frankfurt (3rd place)
• 2010: Entry into the playoff semi-finals (6th place after the main round)
• 2011: Entry into the playoff quarter-finals (8th place after the main round)
• 2020: runner-up in the 2nd Bundesliga ProA (no promotion)

Coach chronicle

Coach chronicle
Term of office	Trainer
1997 - 12/2000	Bernie Miller
01/2001 - 01/2009	Šarūnas Sakalauskas
01/2009 - 05/2009	Algirdas Milonas
2009-2013	Douglas Spradley
05/2013 - 02/2015	Calvin Oldham
02/2015 - 11/2015	Muli Katzurin
11/2015 - 03/2016	Chris Harris
03/2016 - 12/2017	Sebastian Machowski
12/2017 - 12/2018	Arne Woltmann
12/2018 - 02/2019	Dan Panaggio
Since 02/2019	Michael May

Squad

Squad Eisbären Bremerhaven in the 2019/2020 season
Attention: The squad information is out of date! (current season: 2020/2021)
player No. Nat. Surname birth size info Last club Guards ( PG , SG ) 2 Joshua Brown 04/02/1989 196  Kalamunda ES 3 Kasey Hill December 3rd, 1993 187  APOEL Nicosia 6th Anthony Canty 02/12/1991 183 Hamburg Towers 7th Adrian Breitlauch 09/14/1993 193 SC Itzehoe Eagles 8th Ceyhan arrow 02/23/1991 189 31 Rohndell Goodwin 05/23/1991 195 Kirchheim Knights Forwards ( SF , PF ) 33 Sid-Marlon Theis 04/26/1993 205 Science City Jena 44 Will Vorhees 12/18/1995 203  Notre Dame Falcons Center ( C ) 5 Moses Pölking 11/30/1997 206 SSV locomotive Bernau 9 Oliver Clay 08/28/1987 205 Rostock Seawolves	Trainer Nat. Surname position Michael May Head coach Allen Ray Smith Assistant coach Nils Ruttmann executive Director Legend Abbr. meaning NBBL Double license A-Nat National player injured in the long term swell Team homepage League homepage Status: September 2019

Change to the 2019/2020 season

Additions: Joshua Braun, Oliver Clay, Rohndell Goodwin, Kasey Hill, Ceyhan Pfeil, Moses Pölking, Sid-Marlon Theis, Will Vorhees

Departures: Keith Benson, Jordan Brangers , Kris Jenkins, Armani Moore, Darious Moten, Durell Summers, Elston Turner jr., Christopher Warren, Jan Niklas Wimberg

Placements

season	league	space	Victory-defeat	Points	Playoffs
1999/00	Regional league				Ascent
2000/01	2. Basketball Bundesliga	08/16	13-17	26:34
2001/02	2. Basketball Bundesliga	06/16	16-12	32:24
2002/03	2. Basketball Bundesliga	03/16	25-05	50:10
2003/04	2. Basketball Bundesliga	02/16	26-04	52:08
2004/05	2. Basketball Bundesliga	01/16	28-02	56:04	Ascent
2005/06	Basketball Bundesliga	04/16	19-11	38:22	Semifinals
2006/07	Basketball Bundesliga	04/18	23-11	46:22	Quarter finals
2007/08	Basketball Bundesliga	08/18	19-15	38:30	Quarter finals
2008/09	Basketball Bundesliga	018/18	07-27	14:54
2009/10	Basketball Bundesliga	06/18	21-13	55	Semifinals
2010/11	Basketball Bundesliga	06/18	18-16	52	Quarter finals
2011/12	Basketball Bundesliga	011/18	16-18	32:36
2012/13	Basketball Bundesliga	011/18	15-19	30:38
2013/14	Basketball Bundesliga	012/18	12-22	24:44
2014/15	Basketball Bundesliga	015/18	10-24	20:48
2015/16	Basketball Bundesliga	015/18	9-25	18:50
2016/17	Basketball Bundesliga	012/18	12-20	24:40
2017/18	Basketball Bundesliga	016/18	8-26	16:52
2018/19	Basketball Bundesliga	017/18	8-26	16:52
2019/20	2nd Bundesliga ProA	02/17	20-7	40:14

Others

Hall

The polar bears play in the Bremerhaven town hall , which has a capacity of 4,200 seats for basketball games. In the first BBL season Bremerhaven dressed for the cup game against ALBA Berlin in the town hall of Bremen , where finally 5.320 spectators took their seats. In the 2006/07 season they moved again to the approx. 10,000 seat town hall in Bremen, where they played against the EWE Baskets Oldenburg . With 9,330 spectators a record was set in the state of Bremen, which was also a record for the entire BBL season. On December 10, 2011, 9,780 spectators followed the game against Bayern Munich in the Bremen town hall.

cheerleader

The cheerleading team of Eisbären Bremerhaven has existed since the 2003/04 season. It consists of 21 young women between 17 and 21 years of age.

mascot

The polar bear mascot is a polar bear named "Dunky".

Web links

• Official website

See also

• Gold Cup of the City of Bremerhaven (basketball) - 1964 to 1983

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Boris Butschkadoff: Sarunas Sakalauskas is Coach of the Year. April 19, 2006. Retrieved January 28, 2017 . 
3. ↑ kicker online, Nuremberg, Germany: After 15 defeats: Sarunas Sakalauskas resigns . In: kicker online . ( kicker.de [accessed on January 28, 2017]).
4. ↑ Nordwest-Zeitung: BASKETBALL: Polar bears benefit from Cologne's retreat . In: NWZonline . ( nwzonline.de [accessed on January 28, 2017]).
5. ↑ Spradley new coach of Eisbären Bremerhaven . In: BILD.de . ( bild.de [accessed on January 28, 2017]).
6. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven: The Eisbären and Doug Spradley go their separate ways . In: Eisbären Bremerhaven . ( dieeisbaeren.de [accessed on January 28, 2017]).
7. ↑ Sport1.de: The Eisbären Bremerhaven separate from their trainer Calvin Oldham . In: Sport1.de . ( sport1.de [accessed on January 28, 2017]).
8. ↑ Basketball: "Inevitable": Eisbären Bremerhaven separate from coach Katzurin . In: The time . ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed on March 4, 2016]).
9. ↑ Sport1.de: Beko BBL: Eisbären Bremerhaven make Chris Harris head coach. In: Sport1.de. Retrieved March 4, 2016 . 
10. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven: Sebastian Machowski takes over the polar bears. (No longer available online.) In: Eisbären Bremerhaven. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016 ; accessed on March 4, 2016 . 
11. ↑ Managing director Jan Rathjen announces farewell - 15 years at the polar bear oar ( Memento from December 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
12. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven: Arne Woltmann becomes the new Eisbären managing director. (No longer available online.) May 23, 2017, archived from the original on August 31, 2018 ; accessed on February 28, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven: Separation from Sebastian Machowski - Arne Woltmann takes over as coach. (No longer available online.) December 21, 2017, archived from the original on December 22, 2017 ; accessed on February 28, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Dietmar Rose: Wolfgang Grube takes over the helm for the polar bears. In: nord24. January 19, 2018, accessed February 28, 2019 . 
15. ↑ Eisbären managing director Wolfgang Grube gets two helpers. Retrieved July 1, 2020 . 
16. ↑ Frank Büter: Grube brings a breath of fresh air to the Bremerhaven polar bears . ( weser-kurier.de [accessed on September 27, 2018]).
17. ↑ Eisbaren Bremerhaven: Dan Panaggio is sports director of the Eisbaren Bremerhaven . In: Eisbären Bremerhaven . September 5, 2018 ( dieeisbaeren.de [accessed September 27, 2018]).
18. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven: Eisbären separate from Arne Woltmann. (No longer available online.) December 12, 2018, archived from the original on December 16, 2018 ; accessed on February 28, 2019 . 
19. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven: Game plan. Retrieved February 28, 2019 . 
20. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven: Dan Panaggio resigns as head coach of the Eisbären - Michael Mai takes over. (No longer available online.) February 28, 2019, archived from the original on March 1, 2019 ; accessed on February 28, 2019 . 
21. ↑ Christian Heinig show all articles Christian Heinig, born in 1982, was born in Berlin. He has been the sports editor of NORDSEE-ZEITUNG since 2017. His specialties are basketball, soccer and US sports: Polar bears: Dan Panaggio is back in the USA. In: nord24. March 14, 2019, accessed March 15, 2019 . 
22. ↑ Licensing easyCredit BBL 2019–2010: 17 clubs receive a license. Retrieved May 9, 2019 . 
23. ^ NDR: No BBL license for Eisbären Bremerhaven. Retrieved May 10, 2019 . 
24. ↑ butenunbinnen.de
25. ↑ Total table. In: Basketball Bundesliga. Retrieved May 13, 2019 . 
26. ↑ Ariane Wirth: Eisbären-Boss Grube: "Baskets Oldenburg are dishonorable". In: buten un inside. May 13, 2019 (butenunbinnen.de)
27. ↑ IT CONTINUES! - POLAR BEARS SUBMIT LICENSE DOCUMENTS FOR THE PROA. In: dieeisbaeren.de. Retrieved July 22, 2019 . 
28. ↑ IMPORTANT STEP FOR A SUCCESSFUL FUTURE OF THE POLAR BEARS: MICHAEL MAI SIGNS A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT AS TRAINER AND SPORTS MANAGER. In: dieeisbaeren.de. Retrieved August 1, 2019 . 
29. ↑ dieeisbaeren.de
30. ↑ dieeisbaeren.de
31. ↑ NILS RUTTMANN BECOMES MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE POLAR BEARS. In: Eisbären Bremerhaven. Retrieved July 1, 2020 . 
32. ↑ Frank Büter: Polar bears suffer first defeat. In: weser-kurier.de. Retrieved November 4, 2019 . 
33. ↑ POLAR BEARS AND THE CUXHAVEN BASKETS REVIVE THEIR COOPERATION. In: Eisbären Bremerhaven. Retrieved November 23, 2019 . 
34. ↑ BARMER 2. Basketball Bundesliga | Coronavirus: Game operations in the ProA and ProB will be ended prematurely. Retrieved on March 18, 2020 (German). 
35. ↑ Eisbären Bremerhaven - ProA - 2019/2020. In: 2basketballbundesliga.de. Retrieved on March 18, 2020 (German). 
36. ↑ POLAR BEARS SUBMIT LICENSE APPLICATION FOR BBL AND PROA. In: Eisbären Bremerhaven. Retrieved April 19, 2020 . 
37. ↑ THE POLAR BEARS BREMERHAVEN PLAY IN THE PROA in 2020-21. In: Eisbären Bremerhaven. Retrieved July 1, 2020 .