“We always have to go full throttle”

Marco Völler, Sports Manager of the Frankfurt Skyliners, about the many cancellations, his new job and the upcoming start of the season.

Mr. Völler, how many consultants have you spoken to on the phone in the past few days?

Some. I can’t give an exact number now, but it was still within the limits.

In addition to the long-term injured Richard Freudenberg, the two German talents Bruno Vrcic (cruciate ligament tear) and Len Schoormann (pubic bone inflammation) broke away. How big was the shock?

Unfortunately, injuries are part of sport. It hurts, of course, that the two boys were injured – especially so badly. The season would have been a very good opportunity for both of them to get started. It’s not only bitter for us as a club, but also for the two boys personally. You have presented yourself very well so far.

They also split up with Reggie Hearn prematurely because of a foot injury. Did the injury actually only occur here in the test match or did he have problems before?

I am not aware of any injury in the friendly. I also don’t want to speculate about whether it could be canceled in the long term. It may also be that he will be fit again the day after tomorrow. But that’s a risk that we didn’t want to take at the moment.

How do you intend to compensate for these failures?

There are some ideas. We now have to see which ones we can implement. As soon as possible, best because it won’t be long before the first game. At the same time, it’s a long season and we don’t have to make hectic decisions. They have to be well thought out. Filling the two German spots in particular will be difficult at this stage. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic that we will find a good solution.

You have already brought in Zaccheus Darko-Kelly as a test player for Hearn. How much longer can he recommend himself?

He flew with me to the training camp in Mallorca. The coach wanted to have him there to watch him a little longer. We will sit down afterwards and then make a decision.

Everything looked good up to the start of training. The roster was complete, but now you’re almost starting all over again.

That’s exactly how you can put it. I’ve been asked elsewhere: What’s going on this year? The roster is put together so early. Now I’m still sitting here doing the same thing that I did two months ago.

How have you settled in as the new Sports Manager over the past two months?

Of course I try to do a lot of things on my own. But I also always get help. Everyone I ask is very helpful too. It’s still a phase where I learn new things every day. Partly, I don’t mean to say overwhelming, but sometimes it’s a lot. I still have to get used to it and develop a routine for everyday life that I don’t yet have. Once I’ve figured that out for myself, it’ll be more relaxed for me too.

What other things, besides the squad planning, are particularly challenging?

I have to organize myself better and have more things on my radar than I did at the time of my active career. The work-life balance is no longer as simple as it was before. It’s also a lot more communication: with consultants, internally, externally. I wasn’t used to that to that extent.

How active are you, despite the many conversations in training with the second team, which plays in the third-rate Pro B?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work every day, but I try to be there as often as possible in order to have a certain level of fitness. We start the season with the Pro B on Tuesday.

Are you actually registered for the Bundesliga team?

Yes. It was agreed from the start that I would play in my new role as a manager in Pro B and be registered for the BBL so that I can play if everything goes wrong (laughs). Which I am not assuming.

Who have you enjoyed most in preparation so far?

In Tez, who will soon be 37, we have someone who still has very, very good energy at times. Rasheed (Moore, editor’s note) is in top form. Even if you couldn’t always read it from the statistics, I liked Brooks (DeBischopp, editor’s note) very much. He was always very active, defended well, rebounded well. Our dual license players, who help us out now and then and like Felix (Hecker, editor’s note) also more often, do a great job and help us tremendously in the current phase.

The Skyliners start the season against Braunschweig on Sunday. How difficult will it be for the team given the number of failures?

Very difficult. But it would have been difficult even without the failures. Braunschweig is a team that we have to compete with. Immediately afterwards it goes to Berlin and then have Oldenburg at home in the cup. We have to approach every game with the necessary seriousness. We gain nothing with half throttle. We always have to go full throttle.

INTERview: Timur Tinç