| Eisvögel USC Freiburg | |
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| Nickname: | Eisvögel (Kingfishers) |
| Leagues: | 1. Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga |
| Founded: | 1972 |
| Arena: | Universitäts-Sporthalle |
| Capacity: | 1,200 |
| Location: | Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany |
| Coach: | Victor Herbosa |
| Website: | usc-eisvoegel.de |
| H Body: | FFB6C1 |
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| H Shorts: | FFB6C1 |
| H Pattern S: | _black_stripes |
| A Body: | 000080 |
| A Pattern B: | _whitesidesoutline |
| A Shorts: | 000080 |
| A Pattern S: | _white_stripes |
Eisvögel USC Freiburg is a German women's professional basketball team based in Freiburg im Breisgau.
As of 2022, the team is the reigning champion of the 1. Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga, the highest level of basketball in Germany.
The team brought the first national championship to the city of Freiburg im Breisgau in 115 years.[1]
After their promotion to the 1st women's basketball league in 2000, Eisvögel went on to be runners-up in the German 2001/02 season Championships. They maintained high ranking in the table when, in the 2005/06 season, the team placed second in the second half of the season.
The following year saw Eisvögel place fourth in the Bundesliga, with a much younger team. The team repeated their fourth position in the Budesliga in the 2007/08 season, achieving third place in the DBBL cup competition. The 2008/09 season ended with Eisvögel in ninth place.[2] Despite this setback, the team went on to finish third, in the season of 2011/12, before going on to win their first national title in 2013, at the final tournament in Freiburg.[3]
In 2017, after seventeen years of playing in the Budesliga, Eisvögel were relegated to the second division.[4] Under coach Pierre Hohn, they returned to the first division in the 2017/18 season,[5] after which point Hohn left the team. He was succeeded by Hanna Ballhaus.[6]
In the 2020/2021 anniversary season, the club's resources were impaired due to COVID-19 associated restrictions and regulations. Consequently, to improve finances, a crowdfunding endeavour was launched by the club, with Betty BBQ, a renowned Freiburg drag queen, acting as an ambassador for the cause.[7] Following the completion of the season, Hanna Ballhaus and Isabel Fernandez departed from the Eisvogel team, with Harald Janson taking their place.[8]
On April 29, 2022, Eisvögel won the German Championship with a 3-1 victory against the Rheinland Lions (formerly SG Bergische Löwen).
In 2021/22, the second team of Eisvögel was promoted to the second Bundesliga. Victor Herbosa, the previous assistant coach of the team, became head coach the same year.[9]
In May 2023, Janson returned to the position of head coach, with Herbosa returning to his native Spain.[10] [11]
Hannah Little