Dubai gets underway with their first training camp

Dubai Basketball, the emirate’s first professional basketball franchise, has traveled to Slovenia for a training camp ahead of a history-making season.

The team will become the first from Dubai to play in a European league when they take part in the AdmiralBet ABA League featuring teams from Europe’s Balkans region.

This week the newly-formed squad flew for their first-ever training camp to Koper, Slovenia under the guidance of Head Coach Jurica Golemac and his team. The camp started on August 19 and will continue until September 2 and is the first time the full playing and coaching staff have been together.

August 20 was a momentous day in the club’s history as it provided the opportunity for the full first-team squad, along with two players from the club’s academy, to train and play together for the first time, with a month to go until tip-off for the new season.

While in Slovenia the team will play four matches against Dinamo, Budućnost VOLI, Split, and Krka.

Head Coach Jurica Golemac said: “This camp is an excellent opportunity for us to come together as a team and prepare for the season. The players have only been together for a week, but already I am seeing great signs of them bonding and coming together as a team.

“This will be a tough camp for the players with some very hard training and difficult games, but the experience we will gain during our two weeks in Slovenia will be invaluable.”

Following the trip to Slovenia, the team returns to Dubai for seven days where they will play a pre-season friendly at Coca-Cola Arena on September 10, before traveling to Sarajevo in Bosnia from September 14-16 to take part in the Mirza Delibašić tournament.

Their AdmiralBet ABA League campaign will start on September 22 against reigning champions Crvena Zvezda at Coca-Cola Arena.