THE CLUB:
Bakken Bears is a men’s basketball team from Aarhus, Denmark. Bakken Bears was formed in 1962 under the name of Skovbakken Basketball. Skovbakken has been in the top league almost every year since then but it was not until 1997 that the club won its first title. Since then, the club has won a number of domestic titles.
In July 2005 Bakken Bears was introduced into Aarhus Elite A/S. This is the elite sports organization in Aarhus that includes AGF Football and Aarhus GF Handball.
THE CITY:
Aarhus is the second biggest town in Denmark (population: 295.000). The nearest airport is Aarhus Airport (30 mins from downtown) or Billund Airport (60 mins from downtown).
THE HOME COURT:
Bakken Bears plays its home games in NRGi Arena (capacity: 4.700). The home court is situated in the main sports complex in Aarhus, Atletion / NRGi Park which also hosts the city's main football stadium seating 20,000 people.
When the Bakken Bears hosted the local rivals, Aabyhøj in December 2006, 4.007 spectators watched the game (a record for basketball in Denmark).
NRGi Park is also the home court of the danish national team in the qualifiers for Euro2007 and in the qualifiers for Euro2009.
THE PLAYERS:
Bakken Bears is well-known for developing Danish players and adding 1 or 2 non-European players every season. Bakken Bears has produced more than 40 national team players. American and Canadian players have pursued careers in Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Portugal, the Philippines, Germany, Finland and other countries while the Danish players have continued their careers in countries such as USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain and Norway.
THE INTERNATIONAL GAMES:
Bakken Bears visited the US three times and played college teams such as University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Alabama State University, Texas University, Baylor, etc.
Bakken Bears have three times participated in FIBA's European tournaments. In 2004/05 Bakken Bears made it into FIBA’s Euro Cup where the team won its group ahead of teams from France, Iceland and Portugal before eventually losing out against the czech team Mlekarna Kunin. In 2005/06 a huge win against Eiffel Towers was not enough to send the Bears through to the playoffs due to defeats against CAB Madeira. In 2007/08 Bosnian team, Igokea Partizan, was to strong and qualified to the second round after a win and a draw.
In different tournaments and scrimmage games the Bears has played teams such as FC Barcelona (Spain, 2005), ALBA Berlin (Germany, 2005) and Hagen (Germany), Oostende (Belgium), Den Helder (Holland), Asker Aliens, Kristiansand Pirates and Kongsberg Penguins (Norway), LrNMKY (Finland), Solna Vikings, Helsingborg and 08 Stockholm (Sweden), Njardvik, Keflavik and IR (Iceland), etc.
THE TOURNAMENTS:
Bakken Bears hosts an elite tournament in Aarhus every year in September. This is an eight team tournament and the Bears has hosted teams from Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, etc.
For youth teams, Bakken Bears has an international tournament each year in the Easter break.
Links:
Eurobasket, Denmark: http://www.eurobasket.com/den/den.asp
Aarhus: www.aarhus.dk
Visit Aarhus, www.visitaarhus.com
NRGi Arena: www.atletion.dk