The University of East London’s Men’s basketball 1st team recently started their season in the BUCS League with the aim of winning it. The last time the Men’s 1st team won some silverware was in the 2018-19 season when UEL were crowned BUCS South Premier Champions. Rising East spoke to Viktor Telecky who is from Czech Republic and the captain of the UEL’s 1st team and it’s truly clear that his aim is the win a championship for the East London side.
Child Prodigy
Viktor started playing basketball when he was eight-years-old in his hometown, Prague, and got called up to play for the Czech Republic U16’s which was a huge stepping stone in his career. It helped Telecky that his club coach was also an assistant coach for the national team: “me and a couple friends already knew because we attended various camps before, but it was great news.”
International Success
Playing for your national team is always huge for an athlete as Telecky further explains. “I was very happy back then because it was the first time being selected into the national team, so it was a big deal.” In the 2016 FIBA U16 European Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, Telecky had an average of 4.9 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists and played seven games.
European Experience
Telecky joined the UEL basketball team in 2019 and has been enjoying his time in East London. It is significant that UEL’s basketball team has a player that was in the national team setup, as Telecky can bring his valuable international experiences to UEL. Telecky mentioned that most of the UEL players did not have experience playing basketball abroad like he did and said “I’ve seen how basketball is played all around Europe and that is something I can bring to the table here.”
