Anyone walking along the large Schulstraße of the Johannes-Brenz-Gemeinschaftsschule on 8 April 2025 was probably left speechless. A large crowd of enthusiastic pupils had gathered there and was eagerly waiting for an autograph or a selfie.
But what was going on? Four professional players from the Crailsheim basketball team HAKRO Merlins were sitting on the Schulstraße, signing autographs and taking selfies with the pupils. The mascot, Hutini, a big hat who supports the Merlins fans at home games, was of course there too.
The event was organised by teachers Martin Thomas and Marco Dierolf. The autograph session was preceded by various basketball games and one-on-one exercises in the school’s large sports hall with the professional players and two youth coaches from the HAKRO Merlins.
This naturally raises the question of how this unique event came about in the first place. Martin Thomas enthusiastically explains the background to the event. He knows Martin Romig, the managing director of the HAKRO Merlins, personally, from the Albert-Schweizer-Gymnasium in Crailsheim. There, the two of them, together with fellow pupils, founded the sports club “Basketball”, from which the basketball department of TSV Crailsheim and eventually the Merlins emerged.
There is no doubt that the pupils had an extraordinary amount of fun. At the same time, the event is also meant to inspire others to follow suit, because the Crailsheim Merlins want, through activities like this, to encourage young people in particular to take up sport, preferably basketball of course.
