Coach Gleim will return to Germany after SalsNBL season 25

The Franklin Bulls officially announce that Sebastian Gleim will resign from his position as Head Coach of the Bulls at the conclusion of the Sal's NBL 2025 Season.

At the end of the 2023 season, when Daniel Sokolovsky stepped down, the Bulls board made it clear that the new Head Coach needed to be with the club for two seasons; Coach Gleim will finish his time with the club after the SalsNBL 2025 finals, fulfilling this two year coaching directive.

Coach Gleim has taken the Bulls to a final series in 2024 and has his sights squarely on a 2025 Grand Final push.

Coach Gleim is leaving his post with the Bulls due to both employment opportunities and personal reasons. Upon his return he will take up a new position as Managing Director of Sport for his former club, the Frankfurt Skyliners. He says it’s a bitter sweet decision.

“Our journey as a family so far is just great. We are blessed that the Franklin Bulls gave us this opportunity to be in such a beautiful country. Pukekohe feels like home. It will be hard to leave.”

General Manager Jamie Reddish acknowledges Coach Gleim's decision, though the club is disappointed to see him leave.

“He’s an extremely high level coach and this is not the first opportunity he’s considered. I know the opportunity he’s heading back to… it’s hard to turn that down. I have asked him to stay involved with the Bulls in a support role and I know he’ll continue to help shape us in the future and you never know, we might even convince him to come back some day….”

Coach Gleim's achievements are evident, as he led the team in 2024 to a record nearly matching that of 2023, along with another Semifinal appearance. This success then propelled an off-season development program that has fostered a new wave of elite talent emerging from South Auckland.

“Whenever I work for a club, my highest goal is that through my effort, knowledge and experience we achieve a well structured program. My only focus is that we get better day by day - any player, our team, my staff and the entire Franklin Bulls organization”. Adds Coach Gleim

Bulls Co-founder, Scott Kelso is proud of what Coach Gleim has been able to do with the team and the club’s development programs in such a short time.

“On behalf of the Bulls board, I want to thank Coach Gleim for all his work over the past seasons. Especially the work he’s done on our player development. To have his experience around us has been something we will carry into our future. Our players are better for having him around and we’ll miss having him on the ground, but we know he’ll still support our staff and players from afar.“ Bulls Co-founder Scott Kelso.

The Bulls continue to push towards the first championship in 2025 and will not start looking for a new Head Coach until the end of the season.

For now, coach Gleim has a single focus, “Now is not the time to say goodbye, now is the time to compete. We still have a job to do. “

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