For Raoul Korner, who has worked as a professional basketball trainer for 24 years and was also team boss of the ÖBV men from 2019 to 2022, it is “back to basics”. The Viennese will be the sports director at Split Second Basketball in Vancouver, an academy that runs with Eric Butler, a former player of the 49-year-old. The engagement on Canada’s west coast will initially run from September 1st to December 15th.
He wanted to “keep the option open to take over a club again if the situation suits,” Korner justified the time limit. Of course, an extension in Vancouver cannot be ruled out. The Viennese has worked for clubs in Austria, the Netherlands and Germany since 1999.
“Extremely exciting task”
Butler, a former Korners player with the Mattersburg 49ers, created Split Second in 2010. Currently, 1,000 to 1,500 children and young people are being cared for, according to the future sports director, who will become Austria’s second current basketball legionnaire in Canada in a few days, alongside NBA center Jakob Pöltl.
Korner explained that he will be responsible for the overall sporting concept, the training and further education of the trainers, individual development and the support of top talents at the academy. It is an “extremely exciting field of work and a welcome change”. He wants to bring in his “experience from 24 years as a professional trainer in Europe and at the same time gain new experience in a new market”.