Let me tell you what I have noticed.
And what has been troubling me.
I want to talk about how people’s outlook is changing, why so much energy seems to be wasted these days, and — in my own way — answer a question that often comes up:
Do people from our neighboring countries really have a different mentality?
The thought returned to me strongly tonight.
After coming home from a late practice following the Regional University Cup, I turned on Sport1 and watched Slovakia produce an impressive victory over Spain’s elite national football team.
It immediately made me wonder what might happen to our own team on Saturday.
And from there, my thoughts continued.
Too many things had happened recently to ignore them.
An Opportunity That Has Never Been Greater
Perhaps the most important thing to say first is that I believe the opportunities available to high-school and university basketball players at DEAC have rarely been as open as they are today.
That does not mean these young people do not face the same everyday challenges as their peers in Debrecen.
Of course they do.
But at DEAC, we try to make sure our players feel that someone is looking after them — both on and off the court.
That requires everything from us as coaches.
Tamás Széchy once described his own work in a way that captures this feeling perfectly: when sport becomes something more than work, sacrifice or fatigue, it becomes a form of love.
That is how I understand it as well.
Respect for sport.
Respect for athletes.
And, yes, affection for the people we work with.
That is what keeps us moving forward when new problems appear every single day.
This is the challenge.
We have to meet the expectations placed upon us.
Players expect help.
They expect encouragement.
They expect to be taught.
They expect something new.
Teaching Players to Win
And this is where the real difficulty begins.
Not everyone starts from the same point.
Not everyone is equally competitive.
Not everyone possesses the same fighting spirit.
Not everyone is naturally a winner.
That is exactly why we have to work every day to teach our players how to win.
Some players first have to learn that they should want to win.
Others already want it, but have to learn how to win.
And there are many more stages beyond that.
It can therefore be painful when someone simply turns away from what the program can offer, both now and in the future.
At DEAC, we tried to build basketball in a way that would allow the game to become a lifelong part of our players’ lives.
We wanted them to remain connected to their roots.
We wanted the club and the basketball program to represent something deeper than simply another team they once played for.
Naturally, there will always be people who do not want that.
Even when they receive support every day that they may struggle to find elsewhere.
Because within a club, players can collect experiences, relationships and values through the game itself.
And those things are not insignificant.
Nor are they free.
Something Different
But lately I have noticed something else.
There seems to be something different driving some of the international students who have recently joined us.
Why do I think so?
Come to one of our practices.
The difference is difficult to miss.
Let me give a few examples.
Palli
We decided that, if possible, we would arrange a playing license for Palli, our Icelandic medical student.
There is a great deal we can learn from him about the mental side of basketball.
His values and competitive spirit can contribute significantly to our team, and he is an extremely likable personality.
As an international student, he is investing a considerable amount of money in becoming a doctor at the University of Debrecen.
This is already his second year with both our senior team and our university squad.
It is therefore a pleasure for us to recognize and appreciate the example he sets through his work.
Giovanni
Then there is another story.
On the very first day of the university teaching semester, we were practicing in the sports hall when a young man — clearly an international student — asked if he could come in and watch.
At the end of practice, he approached me.
He explained that he would be studying at our university for five or six months.
He had arrived from Sardinia and normally played basketball in the Italian Serie C.
And there was one detail that stayed with me:
He had not even spent a single night in Debrecen yet.
He had arrived in a completely new city and somehow found us immediately.
He found his way because basketball was already somewhere inside him.
Since then, he has practiced with us regularly.
Sometimes he even joins the most ambitious players for morning workouts.
We offered him opportunities to compete in U21, NB II and the University Championship.
His excitement was unmistakable.
He told us:
This is where I belong.
His attitude is so positive that sometimes his presence alone makes preparing for practice worthwhile.
From a coaching perspective, integrating a player like this also creates an interesting challenge.
How can we save time?
How can we teach him our team concepts quickly?
How can we bring someone into an established system efficiently?
But it is worth the effort.
Giovanni deserves it.
Anže
And the story does not end there.
On that same day, I received an email from a Slovenian basketball player asking whether he could join our program as a fifth-year medical student.
He would be spending an entire year in Debrecen.
That meant we had a whole season in which we could teach him — and in which his presence might teach us something as well.
The 23-year-old did not miss a practice after joining us.
And then today, something happened that left a particularly deep impression on me.
His first university game started slowly.
He struggled to find his rhythm.
But as the game continued, he began to show what we had already seen in practice.
By the end of the day, he had become one of the leaders of our team.
His positive attitude had influenced the players around him from the very beginning.
After our second game, there was a ninety-minute break.
At 8 p.m., approximately ninety percent of the university team also turned up for the combined senior and U23 practice.
Before practice started, he walked over to me.
He said he needed to apologize.
He did not yet know what the next few days would look like.
His parents were already travelling from Slovenia to pick him up and take him home.
Between the games that day, he had learned that his grandfather — the central figure of his family — had passed away.
He told me that he did not want to miss anything.
He simply did not yet know whether the funeral would be on Monday or Tuesday.
His parents would take him home the following day.
And still, while dealing with the loss of someone he loved, he was thinking about basketball.
He desperately wanted to be here for his first NB II game.
He just did not know whether he would be able to return in time for Tuesday’s match.
I struggled to find the right words.
What could I possibly say?
The loss of someone we love overrides everything else.
Anže Bobek had been playing with us for only about a month.
After beginning his medical studies, he had continued basketball only as a hobby.
Essentially, he had not competed seriously for approximately seven years.
But nobody watching him would believe that.
He could step into the senior team at any time.
What They Brought With Them
These young men brought something different into our gym.
Something that I personally need almost as much as food.
Their attitude helps me renew myself.
It makes me happy that, without asking for anything in return, they give us both moral and physical motivation.
I know that energy will help our team through difficult periods.
And I know I am not the only person within the group for whom these unspoken things matter.
Perhaps this is the example we need.
Perhaps this is the secret.
Not nationality.
Not some mystical difference between countries.
But values.
Commitment.
Initiative.
Gratitude.
The desire to belong.
And the willingness to work for something simply because it matters to you.
Sometimes the best lessons arrive without anyone formally teaching them.
You simply have to recognize them when they walk into your gym.