PILSEN (FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) - Over sixty aspiring play-callers have attended a highly successful two-day international coaching clinic as part of the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women event in Pilsen.

The coaches were treated to a variety of sessions from distinguished facilitators, including women's basketball hall of famer, Jill Schneider who led USA to gold at the previous edition of the tournament.

She was quick to stress the value of the clinic and said, "It's very important since many good ideas are out there and there are so many good coaches.

"We never know it all as coaches and the more we can share and learn from each other, the more you realise these type of events are such a great opportunity.

"It went really well - I talked a lot about defence and you are always wanting to spend even more time than allowed discussing different things."

Schneider also reiterated her own previous role at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women and underlined just how tough it was to clinch the title in 2012.

"It was very difficult because all the teams are so motivated to beat USA," she recalled.

"It was difficult and stressful at the time and now we have a re-match of the Final against Spain which is very interesting."

She was joined by the reigning EuroLeague Women head coach, Ekrem Memnun who landed one of the biggest club prizes in women's club basketball with Galatasaray odeabank last season.

He outlined his approach to transition in his session, explaining how he worked with some of the biggest names in women's basketball including Spanish ace Alba Torrens, EuroBasket Women 2013 MVP Sancho Lyttle and Turkish national team stars such as, Isil Alben and Nevriye Yilmaz.

Memnun himself also enjoyed listening to a question and answer session with his fellow EuroLeague Women coach, Natalia Hejkova on a morning when the pair were drawn in the same group for the 2014-15 season.

"I enjoyed listening to a very experienced coach like Hejkova of ZVVZ USK Prague speaking," he stated.

"It is very important to share ideas as it is the only way I feel that I can improve my own coaching.

"I like to see if I can get something which I could weave into my own system and methods.

"I actually think there should be more clinics and sharing like this."

He added, "I have also learned a lot from my players as they believed in me and pushed me - we had unbelievable season and I was very lucky to have had players in my team who almost loved basketball as much as I do!"

FIBA