Maryam Rezaei
Chrissoula Manolakaki
Panos Chreppas
Stamatis Tsagias
Asimeni TountaFotis Katsikaris
I have always admired the job of a coach and believe that it is one of the most sacred and difficult careers, if not THE most! A Real coach is like a parent to their kids! A coach has to: understand them, give them discipline, know their limits, motivate them to achieve their best and be there when they fall, especially a coach of the team game like Basketball! Fotis Katsikaris is THE COACH! He sees his players as his kids and he calls them “his family”, a family with different nationalities, cultures, ages and personalities! He has the talent and devotion to take their fear, individuality and ego away and turn them into a family, so together they stand strong and fight for their team!
I had heard about his gentleman character and how he is admired and loved by everyone, even though he personally laughs and says, "Not everyone!" But meeting him in person proved everything I had heard was true and much more! Being a very famous international basketball coach you would expect a typical interview with short answers and a short time deadline. But to the contrary, he welcomed me with a warm smile and thanked me for my time!
He has a calm but strong voice that makes you feel safe and protected and you feel you are in the presence of a compassionate and demanding leader who is extremely polite and authentic. I think the most important thing about him is his selfless down to earth character and how he puts his team before himself! He says: “Coach is like a film director and the players are the actors… everyone sees the players and not the director… but without the director there wouldn’t be a film!"
Fotis started his career as a professional basketball player even though he had studied to be a stock broker! He says when he was a young boy everyone customarily “kicked the ball” but when he “touched” his first ball (basketball) there was a connection! He loved tactics and had the talent to understand his co-players and could see things clear from a distance and how things worked and that intrigued him to become a coach! He has coached for many European teams, such as Bilbao and UCAM Murcia and of course the Greek National Basketball Team!
He says he has learned a lot from his experience with this special game. It has made him a better person and it has given him deep emotions and feelings as well as a lot of pain and disappointment but it has made him strike back stronger! He says we need to embrace disappointment as it is the key to trying harder and becoming better each time!
He says… nothing is impossible… certainly not for our beloved Super Coach, Fotis Katsikaris!
https://www.facebook.com/Fotis-Katsikaris-Basket--255038687910819/
