Köping Stars - a success story

See the full report in Sunday's Sports Mirror, at 19 in SVT1 or on SVT Play.

It is Tuesday, January 14 in Köping and the vankas home match in Karlbergshallen, or KB-hall as it is abbreviated. Köping Stars receive Umeå in the basketball league, a team that has already beaten twice this season.

Much to be prepared. The room is shared with schoolchildren who have had a sports lesson during the day, now sponge up on the walls and floor, chairs are set along the short sides, kiosk and popcorn machine put in order - to name a few of the tasks.

The closer the match inputs it suffers, the more people close up to help. The atmosphere is familiar, some have children playing in the team - others still line up. What they have in common is that the work is done voluntarily. In addition to coaches and players, the club has only one employee: sports manager Christer Sjögren.

- You get past and mess with each other. Working with what you think is the most fun. Talk about everything, see each other. The community we know I think is the biggest key to this success, ”says Tomas Bandh.

He is the headmaster during the day, now he wipes the floor in the hall. Or described in another way: on paper he is vice-chairman of Köping Basket, in reality much more than that.

Tomas and his friends were part of the city's basketball scales in the 1980s, when the then Köping GIF was up and in the high school. Now, 38 years later, Köping Stars is making its second season in basketball's finery and has surprised Basketsverige. The team is currently second in the table, two points behind leading Borås.

- Playing in the basketball league is a dream. Some say it is the best thing that has happened here in Köping, says Tomas Bandh.

The Köping Stars success recipe obviously contains more ingredients. The KB Hall can accommodate "only" 630 people, yet the team has become known for its strong home pressure.

- Hopefully, people who live here feel proud. We're closing up. It is still Köping against big cities around the country, says Köpingbon and faithful supporter Peter Finger who followed basketball for a long time, from the end of the 80s.

Team coach Panagiotis "Jotti" Nikolaidis is on the same track.

- It's a bit of a cliché, but the audience is really our sixth player. It gives the players extra energy and then it becomes easier for me as a coach to push them a little extra. It's not just about the matches, but also when they meet fans in town.

And of course you should not forget the basketball stars. It is difficult - perhaps turned to impossible - to reach the top today without recruiting foreign players.

In line with its success, Köping has been able to pick up several talented imports. The latest acquisition is Jeremy Combs, a center / forward from Dallas, Texas who rarely misses a return under the basket. He joined for the season, has quickly become an important player in the team and stands out on the pitch with his big dreadocks.

- I have a lot of confidence in the team. We have a great coach and a good organization. Köping is a small town, almost everyone knows each other here. It's like a family. People are nice to me, and I'm nice to them, says Combs.