SAMARA FUNNELL: Her Dream Brought Her to Germany – Now She Coaches Men's Pro Basketball

Episode von Hangtime von dunkndaniels · 22. September 2026 · 1 h 11 min

Our guest on today's episode of "Hangtime" is Samara Funnell – Assistant Coach and Team Manager at Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt. This is our first episode entirely in English.

Samara didn't start playing basketball until her second year of high school, around age 15. Her best friend dragged her to a tryout, and her own reaction was: "There's no way – I'm like a skinny white girl, I can't play a contact sport." She never played professionally. Coaching started while she was still in school, when she took over a junior team as one of the seniors.

Then came years in Australia, working in restaurants, cafés and a hardware store while coaching 15 to 20 hours a week on the side. Until a message arrived on Instagram, from someone she had never met. Two weeks later she quit her job, sold nearly everything she owned and flew back to New Zealand with a single suitcase: "I'm gonna just gamble on this opportunity."

We talk about building her own confidence as a woman in men's professional basketball, how the Frankfurt offer came about – "No, I'm serious. And I want an answer." – and why she has never applied for a job abroad in her life. For her, everything has come through relationships: "It's always been about the relationships and the connection piece."

We also get Germany through New Zealand eyes: a season that runs nine months instead of four, six imports instead of three, and road trips where she and her colleague rate every arena out of ten for noise. Her verdict on the smaller markets: "I could never tell it was a small market team." Plus her first Eintracht Frankfurt match, where strangers bought them scarves so they could join in the chants.

Finally, her summer with the Portland Fire in the WNBA, the Nike World Headquarters – and how far she wants to take this. Her answer: "I just don't want to have any limits."

Links

Samara Funnell

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachsam_nz/

DUNKNDANIELS

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro — Starting at 15, never a pro

04:50 The DM that changed everything — quit two weeks later

15:52 What shaped her — family, responsibility and people

28:15 Being a woman in men's pro basketball

33:15 The call from Frankfurt — three weeks to decide

39:55 Germany through New Zealand eyes — league, arenas, fan culture

56:23 Portland Fire, the WNBA and no limits

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Über den Podcast

Willkommen bei Hangtime – dem Podcast, wo Basketball auf spannende Gespräche trifft! Wir laden Persönlichkeiten aus dem Basketball-Kosmos ein: von Spieler*innen und Trainer*innen bis zu Journalist*innen und Insider*innen. In entspannter Atmosphäre beleuchten wir ihre Werdegänge, tauchen in…

Hangtime

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