Jena, 09.06.2026 – A major development in Thuringian basketball: Steven Esterkamp becomes the new head coach of Science City Jena. After successful years with the Eisbären Bremerhaven, the experienced American is moving to the Saale to realize the ambitious goals of the traditional Thuringian club.
- Who: Steven Esterkamp (new head coach)
- What: Coaching change from the Eisbären Bremerhaven to Science City Jena
- When: June 2026 (contract start for the new season)
- Goal: Sporting realignment and medium-term promotion to the BBL
Farewell to the North – A New Beginning in Thüringen
The move of Steven Esterkamp to the Saale marks a significant milestone for the sporting future of Science City Jena. According to media reports, Esterkamp is leaving the Eisbären Bremerhaven “with a heavy heart.” In Bremerhaven, he had formed a stable ProA team over the past few years and earned a reputation as a meticulous developer. Now, he is seeking a new sporting challenge with high prospects in Jena.
Previous Stations of the New Jena Coach
Esterkamp has long been a fixture in German basketball. He began his career in Germany as an active player, including with the finke baskets Paderborn, where he impressed as a sharp-shooting winger. After ending his active career, he pursued a coaching path. He took on his first head coaching responsibility in the professional sector at BBC Coburg in the ProB, where he successfully developed young talents from 2019 to 2022. In the summer of 2022, he moved to the ProA to join the Eisbären Bremerhaven, whom he consistently established in the upper third of the second division table.
Sporting Ambitions: The Goal is the Bundesliga
With the signing of Esterkamp, Science City Jena underscores its own ambitions in German basketball. After several years in the second-tier ProA, the club aims for a medium-term return to the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). The club management hopes the new coach will provide fresh tactical impulses and targeted integration of the club’s own talents from the Jena youth program.
🎭 The Sporting Home on the Saale
Science City Jena is one of the most traditional basketball locations in Thüringen. The club’s home venue is the Sparkassen-Arena in the Burgau district, which opened in 2014 and regularly attracts over 3,000 spectators to home games. The club has always been known for its excellent youth work, which is promoted at the club’s own Sportsgymnasium Jena and has already produced numerous Bundesliga and national players.
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Coach Esterkamp moves “with a heavy heart” from the Eisbären to the BBL club Jena
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