Thirty representatives of basketball federations across Europe heard from two of their own last weekend in the first ever FIBA Europe Seminar for National Federations. 

The day began with presentations from Lena Wallin Kantzy, Secretary General of the Swedish Basketball Federation who was followed by Jesus Bueno, Executive Director of the Basketball Federation of Spain. 

Kantzy spoke about preparations for long-term strategic planning, drawing on her experience working in the Swedish Federation both during and after playing host to EuroBasket 2003. 

"Everything starts with ideas, the organization needs to know what we want to offer or achieve, for whom and why." Kantzy explained to the delegates on hand.  

"If you know what your purpose and goal is then it gets much easier for everyone involved." 

Kantzy touched on subjects ranging from the development of youth players to working with club teams to improve the overall state of the game in your country. She also stressed the importance of compartmentalizing. 

"You have to break down your goals by area and then come up with a goal and a strategy to achieve each of those goals." 

Jesus Bueno shared his federations approach to vision and strategy. 

Bueno spoke about using marketing partners to extend the reach of basketball in Spain and attain such lofty goals as nearly tripling the number of registered players by 2012. 

He also touched on some of the competition faced by basketball, and not just in the form of other sports. 

"We can recruit the young player but what can we do to keep them. They have so many offers from other sports and from things even like Wii or PlayStation," explained Bueno, alluding to the positive influence the sport can have on Spanish society. 

"Our image is about more than just playing good basketball it's also about being a positive part of society, helping to eliminate childhood obesity, integrating immigrant communities and so forth."