Pavel Petera passes away

Pavel Petera, one of the most revered coaches in Czech Basketball has passed away in Prague at the age of 71 years old. He was one of the most influential coaches in his native country thanks to his long association with Czech National Team, a role in which he brought the last real success to Basketball on a national level in the Czech Republic.

Petera worked in Basketball for 21 years but will be best remembered in the sport for his stint as head coach of the Czechoslovakia men’s national team between 1976 and 1987. Over his tenure in charge of the team he helmed 450 international games and brought medal success to the country on several occasions.

Pavel Petera´s crowning achievement as head coach of the Czech National Team was guiding the team to the silver medal at the 1985 Eurobasket in Germany. He had further success in the same competition when he and the team claimed bronze medals at the Eurobasket tournaments in 1977 and 1981.

The successful national coach later went on to be the tactician at Aris Thessaloniki in Greece for two years and was also selected as a coach for the European team in the FIBA All-Star series in 1987. Petera retired from Basketball and became the editor-in-chief of Prague based daily newspaper “Sport”.