Stephen Buttigieg, a Maltese coach currently living in Belgium, has recently been appointed as Technical Director of Basketclub Dames Leuven, a club competing in the second division of the Flemish League.

Buttigieg was renowned for developing young players when he was coaching in Malta. He led three clubs, Floriana, Hibs and Footwork, to promotion from the second division and also coached various junior national teams.

Since moving to Belgium some years ago, Buttigieg has coached in different international schools in Brussels, and was also appointed Basketball Director of the Brussels Sports Association, a volunteer group organising several sports for youths in and around the Belgian capital.

He also attended a coaching clinic held by FIBA during the inaugural U-17 World Championships held in Hamburg last summer.

Last season, Buttigieg was approached by Basketclub Dames Leuven to oversee a number of coaches in the junior section. He ran several clinics for the coaches which were considered a great success. He was also invited to form the technical programme for the club’s Summer Camp.

The club is very ambitious, with Leuven being one of the biggest catering for women’s basketball in the region of Brabant Flanders.

Hence the committee decided it needed to formulate a long-term strategy with an aim of reaching the Flemish first division despite the very young age of the players in its senior team.

With this in mind, the club formed a Sport Policy Steering Committee (SSB) with Buttigieg being one of three persons invited to join the group.

He was also appointed Technical Director of the Club for season 2011/2012.

One of the first jobs for the SSB was to propose a new sports policy for the club which was recently unanimously approved by the club’s board.