After a playing career spanning over 30 years, Silvio Cassar has reached a new level in his coaching career after obtaining the European basketball licence FECC.

The FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate is a three-year course of top-quality basketball education spearheaded by the best coaches in the continent.

The last course was staged across three different cities, Pardubice (Czech Republic), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Tallinn (Estonia).

Cassar had the opportunity to follow three major international competitions at youth level before passing the final exams and graduate as a FIBA-certified coach.

Svetislav Pesic, head coach of Bayern Munich, was the mentor of this coaching programme which also featured the participation of other top mentors, including Kes-tutis Kemzura (a bronze medal winner at the 2010 World Champion-ship), Pablo Laso (head coach of Real Madrid), Janez Drvaric (youth team manager at Olimpija Ljubljana) and Sasa Jakovljevic (strength and conditioning expert).

Another highlight was the presentation of Maurizio Gerardhini, general manager of the NBA team Toronto Raptors.

The final year of the 2011-2013 FECC class came to a close with the presentation of certificates in the presence of FIBA Europe secretary general Kamil Novak and Michael Schwarz, head of FIBA Europe Coaching Department.

“Being officially recognised as a FIBA coach means a lot to me,” Cassar said in a statement.

“Over the past three years, I was able to learn from the best as the course also gave me an opportunity to meet other coaches from different countries, all united by their love for basketball.”