The American Coach in Sweden, Steve Freeland
(Tony Friede - photographer)

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The coaches of Södertälje at Steve's basketball clinic

Gswede Monday - "Did you see the way I changed defenses"?

The 2nd annual "American Basketball Coach in Sweden" program began on May 10 with a welcome gathering for Coach Steve Freeland in Stockholm. It was a lovely Spring Day (finally!) and many of my friends and supporters came out to great him in the early evening. Steve was at ease right away!

Steve's impact would be felt the very next day as we journeyed to Södertälje (http://www.sbbk.se). They run a terrific youth basketball program and their elite team, Södertälje Kings, is one of the 11 professional teams in Sweden. My friend and assistant coach of the pro team, JD Sanders (solo photo above) generously gave Steve the opportunity to run a 2 hour coach's clinic.

I introduced Steve to the 20-25 coaches in attendance and he showed them a variety of the unique and creative basketball strategies that have made him a success. He covered man to man, zone, situation plays, unique offensive and defensive strategies and many other important elements of the game. The coaches listened attentively and many were writing in their notebooks.

The youth team of 13 year old boys that Steve demonstrated with learned zone defense and how to attack a zone, something they had never played before. The kids quickly absorbed what Steve was teaching them despite it all being new!

At the end of the session, the coaches asked questions and Steve warmly answered them all. He also spent private time with a few coaches. If not for a prior commitment that night, Steve would have easily been there for several more hours. I literally had to pull him away!

The weekend of May 13, I took Steve to see a couple of boys and girls youth championship basketball games in Lidingö, outside of Stockholm. We had a nice surprise when we saw a coach from Steve's clinic coaching one of the girl's teams. At halftime, he came up to Steve and said, "Did you see the way I changed defenses"? At that point, I knew the clinic was a success. Steve smiled and gave the coach some positive feedback. He was happy that one of his many themes "Never be afraid to change" was utilized in the game.

Change along with being totally prepared is one of the reasons that Steve has been successful as a basketball coach. Even when things are going well in a game, he might suddenly press a an opposing team or use a different offense which often adds an element of surprise or makes opposing coaches think. When his team is not doing well, he always changes so that his team has a chance to gain the momentum back.

Coach Steve Freeland thrives on facing difficult strategies by opposing coaches and is always ready for whatever situation he might face in a game. If one of his plays is not working, he will change to something that is better. One of the best lessons taught in the clinic was to always embrace change especially when things on the basketball court are not working.

When I was 11 years old, Steve was my coach. In some of the games our guards had trouble dribbling the ball up court. What did Steve do? He changed. I often would bring the ball up court at those times because I could dribble very well. He wasn't afraid to make that change despite me being the center and tallest boy on the team. His lesson of change made me a better basketball player and helped prepare me for the many changes that we all inevitably deal with in life.

It was a successful first 5 days! More photos are below.

The week of the 15-19 would prove to be as one of my favorite poets, John Keats says, "A Thing of Beauty". The impact of Steve with the team of youth at Fryshuset nearly brought one of my supporters to tears. That story will have to wait until next weeks Gswede Monday.

George