Nymburk have been part of the Basketball Champions League from the very beginning in 2016-17, competing every season in the competition. The Czech powers have won the domestic league the last 19 years (15 of those seasons winning the league-cup double), and also have produced strong performances in the BCL. They reached the Round of 16 the first two seasons and the Final 8 in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Now the club hopes to see where it stacks up at the international youth club level.

"It is a great honor for our club, and at the same time for the entire city and region to participate in the Youth Basketball Champions League. The boys from the small town of Nymburk have the opportunity to play with some of the best teams from all over Europe and this is great for their further player development. For me as the head coach and the entire implementation team, it will be new experiences in the never-ending process of self-education, so we are very happy that the YBCL was created and we are looking forward to the tournament.
"It will be a great tournament full of youth basketball at the highest level. The organization of the entire event is already at a top level and we believe that it will be the same in the games, where I expect very aggressive and fast basketball to be played. We will have to adjust with our young team. This year's tournament may be a disadvantage for us, as we have players mainly from 2006, but if we participate in the tournament in the coming years, we can already say that the players will have more experience with such a tournament and that will only be good."

-  Jan Kosar, Nymburk Academy Head Coach and U19/U23 Head Coach

History of the Program | Domestic Success

U19
Second Place - 2011/12, 2012/13, 2015/16, 2017/18

 U17
First Place - 2014/15, 2016/17

Recent Youth Developments

The club’s youth program was founded in 1998 but its modern history began in 2010. At first as Youth Basketball Center in cooperation with the city and region, then in 2014 as Basketball Academy Nymburk. The year 2015 was important for the club’s youth development. That was when the team became one of four youth high performances centers (VSCM) in the country. That meant the club had professional coaches for the youth with an A license, certified physiotherapists and strength and conditioning coaches. The club also cooperated externally with a certified nutritionist as well as Nymburk’s hospital and Locomotor System Treatment Center in Prague.
The club in 2015 also opened a boarding school for players from outside of Nymburk where the players live together for 9-10 months a year and have a kitchen and a common room to spend time together.
The club also has a cooperation with two schools so the youngsters have options in terms of education. And the boarding school is a 5-minute walk to the practice gym and both schools. In addition, in 2015, the club’s second team - a U23 squad - made the jump from the Czech third division to the second division.

YBCL Player to Watch

Peter Kovacik | 2005 | PG

Kovacik is spending his second season with the club. The point guard has already represented Slovakia a number of times at the youth levels. He averaged 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals at the FIBA U16 European Challengers 2021 and then collected 8.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.4 steals at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2022 Division B. This season he is averaging 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals in the U19 league. Kovacik is also collecting 4.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists with Polabi in the Czech second division.
He is a smart player with an excellent overview of the game. Kovacik has a very good shot and plays well in his role. In general, he is a team player but he can also be selfish at times.

Program Alumni

Matej Svoboda | Lubos Kovar | Ondrej Hanzlik | Frantisek Rylich | Filip Novotny | Eduard Kotasek | Dominik Heinzl | David Novak

Svoboda came to Nymburk from Ostrava when he was 16 years old in 2012. He would debut in the BCL in 2016-17 and is currently playing for Czech top flight side Decin, averaging 16.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Matej Svoboda suiting up for the Czech Republic, 2016 FIBA U20 European Championship - Division A.