DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in the below article are solely of the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of Hoopsfix.
Introducing “Coach X”, our newest regular contributor on Hoopsfix.
Coach X has been heavily involved with British and European basketball for almost two decades, possessing an unparalleled wealth of knowledge. His involvement has ranged from playing, all the way through to coaching at both grassroots and professional levels.
Genuinely caring about seeing British kids not only succeed as players but people, he has taken this opportunity to work with Hoopsfix to voice opinions that would otherwise go unheard. It goes without saying, due to a variety of reasons, he has chosen to remain anonymous. You can contact him on coachx[@]hoopsfix.com
In his first blog here on Hoopsfix, he’s chosen to talk about the “honour” that comes with playing for a National team in the UK.
When British Basketball announced the initial squad list for this season’s Great Britain Under-20 program the press release took the very unusual step of naming the players that had withdrawn their name for consideration. It announced that nine players were ‘considered’ for the program but had decided not to commit to playing; Teddy Okereafor, Tom Pereira, Ovie Soko, Raheem May-Thompson, Ryan Martin, Grant Fiorentinos, Aaron Geramipoor, Abodunrin Olaseni, and Vince Van Nes. All were reported to have college commitments and made themselves unavailable.
Ovie Soko is one of the players the GB U20s are missing this summer
Whilst some of these players have legitimate reasons to have to pulled out of the campaign to be part of the first male age group team to get promoted to the European A division, the fact that British Basketball felt they had to announce players not involved, and the size of the group makes you wonder what is behind such a large number of withdrawals from our national team programs.
It’s very difficult for people who haven’t been involved in national team programs before to comprehend why a young person might turn down the opportunity of representing their country. The issue, in my opinion, is that it’s not considered an honour to represent England or Great Britain in age group teams.
Many players’ first experience of national teams is when they are selected to join the England age group teams and invited to attend a training camp. I often hear the argument of how limited our time and access to our players is in comparison to other countries. Whilst there is some truth to this statement, what is actually more relevant is the poor systematic way in which these camps are put together. Players are often far too overloaded in such a short period of time, providing no real benefit to the program and as a consequence the players end up missing sessions when they return to their clubs in order to recuperate.
Training camps are already a hot topic on Hoopsfix because of the issues that the U18 boys team are currently going through. In all the arguments about players being out of shape and the controversial fitness program they are partaking in, not once have we considered that the players have had to miss out on a U18 European Championship. How must they be feeling to be deprived of this once in a life time experience? Most players of international level (at under 18) have aspirations of becoming professional players, that means that their body and their health could be the ‘ticket’ that earns them their living for the rest of their lives. It’s not just the male teams either, two weeks ago the England U18 girls program, deep in preparation for their European Championships, stayed on a campsite with the players sleeping in tents and having to cook their own food. The idea was a “boot camp”; a team building exercise to bring them all together. Perhaps a nice idea in theory, but it was combined with a full practice and game schedule where players were expected to be physically and mentally ready to perform at the peak of their abilities. This shows a complete lack of care by the staff and governing body for the welfare and future careers of our ‘best’ young players.
Should players have to pay for the privilege of representing their country?
My biggest annoyance with England training camps however, is that players must pay for the privilege of attending camp. On average a weekend national team camp will cost £80 per player, not including the cost of getting to and from the venue. If we conservatively estimate that a player who attends every camp over the course of the season attends 5 camps plus an international tournament abroad (roughly £100) and add in travel expenses, we are probably looking at a bill of at least £600 a season. If we then also consider that players often stay in budget hotels, three to a room, sharing beds or sleeping on pull outs and eat McDonalds breakfasts then it starts to take the shine off being a junior international basketball player in this country.
Players who have the honour of being selected for England should be coming back from national team camps full of praise about experiencing the best facilities and resources available. Making their peers envious and impressed with stories of elite level basketball, and the invaluable information they’ve learnt from the expert coaches. Instead what we get is stories of poor facilities, out-dated strength and conditioning programs, and food and nutrition that fails to provide for the physical activity they are expected to do.
The experience that many players have throughout their U16 and U18 campaigns goes a long way to shape their expectations of national team programs and I have no doubt is a cause of some of the withdrawals for the U20 program.
Adam Thoseby's jersey with incorrect spelling
At the U20 level, however, UK sport funding means that the issues around withdrawals are completely different and mainly stem from a complete lack of respect for the player. The majority of our players at this age are either at college in the states or are due to be starting in the near future. College coaches, as a rule, do not generally want their players to play for national team programs. They would much prefer their players to be on campus attending summer school where they can keep a watchful eye on the preparations for the next season. In return for our players going against the wishes of their college coach, what does our governing body do? How do they show their appreciation for loyalty to the program? How about, in one instance, spelling a player’s name incorrectly on the back of their jersey or perhaps not even bothering to research what college a player is at for the press release announcing their inclusion on a national team? If I was one those players I would also be wondering if they have even bothered to check how well my season has gone!
How respected do those players currently coming to the end of their college careers feel when they look at the recent Great Britain ‘Futures’ team and see an American (with a British passport) who played at an NCAA Division Three university, that didn’t even win half their games, present at the expense of numerous British bred players. Being developed in Britain appears to be a major negative for you if you want to be a player, coach or member of staff for Great Britain (but that’s a whole new article on its own)!
British Performance Basketball has a phrase that it loves to use about being ‘player driven’. I don’t think that we could be further from this ideal if we tried. From the age of 15 our players’ experience of national teams are so poor you can’t really blame them for not committing to play.
I believe that we should be a Division A team at every age group and I also believe that we have the coaches and players to make this a reality. It’s time that the Governing body and those people responsible for running our National teams restored the honour in playing basketball for your country.
___
Hoopsfix contacted both England Basketball and British Basketball to give them a chance to respond to this post. England Basketball commented;
“1. This revolves around how England Basketball is funded and how it allocates resources while remaining financially sound. Suffice to say that resources are limited and balancing the books is a skilful and expert task.
2. The available resources have to be spread carefully across a number of essential functions including performance: competitions & events, club development, officiating development, coach development, membership, schools, courses, equity & child protection and administration in a number of areas.
3. A significant and increasing amount is invested in performance not least so that the national teams have much more comprehensive programmes than previously.
4. In 2011 England Basketball is contributing to the costs of the national age-group teams (U16 and U18 boys and girls) up to the level of £30,000 each.
5. The player contributions are only a small proportion of the costs of any national team activity and in return they do get good value: invaluable training, playing and travel (and life) experiences including meals and accommodation and with high level team staff.
6. We work closely with the SportsAid charity that has supported thousands of young elite athletes over a number of decades. SportsAid is recognized and supported by Sport England as the prime charity for young sporting talent and aims to partner athletes with suitable funding organizations. National Team squad players are nominated for SportsAid grant awards to help towards the cost of their development as elite players and their key development activity is the national team programme. In the past 3 years our players have received around 200 awards totaling in excess of £100,000.
1. Of course we must do whatever we can to ensure that players are not excluded on financial grounds and the team staff have this awareness and they support the work with SportsAid. The Team Managers also assist players with applications to other sources such as their schools/colleges and local authorities. I know that Steve Alexander in London gives guidance to parents and players on funding opportunities through schools etc.
2. Feedback from other nations at the European Championships reveals that player contributions is the norm and that amounts are similar to us although some are significantly higher.
3. Other sports operate similarly – I raised the same question that you have a few years ago when my son was involved in tennis performance squads and I was surprised at the level of contributions required – and tennis is a relatively rich sport (£24m plus from Wimbledon every year on top of other revenues.
4. The respective team coaches, managers and physiotherapists volunteer their services.”
England Basketball also felt the figures given for playing for England were over-estimated. They are however, in fact lower than the figures given to Hoopsfix by players, parents and coaches.
Hoopsfix contacted a number of different federations in Europe, and have received replies from three (Portugal, Belgium and Slovenia). None of them expected contributions from any of their junior national team players at any point in the selection process. This will be updated as we receive further responses.
According to the SportsAid website, “Our awards help them (athletes) with essential costs such as travel, training, accommodation, competition fees and equipment.” Coach X wants to make it clear, this does not imply the full award a player receives should go straight in the governing body’s pocket. Not all players in the England setup receive SportsAid.
British Basketball had no comment.
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
There seem to be two issues really. One involving EB and one involving GB. On EB’s side, I think the funding issue is really key as basketball is just not a priority sport in this country and I imagine they really struggle by having resources spread so thin so across all age groups, training, admin, etc. Their responsibilities range far and wide across many different elements of the sport in England. The fact that they replied to your query with a comprehensive response/rebuttal also indicates their willingness to participate in a dialogue. On the GB side, unfortunately, it just seems pretty shoddy. Getting jersey names and colleges wrong is just poor form and should never happen. Having attended one of the seminars that Warwick Cann delivered on T16, it seems the senior GB squads have got their coaching setups (and performance ideas) nearly to where they need to be, however the administration/organisation side seems to be lagging far behind. Also their reluctance to respond to any of the points in this post doesn’t bode well for their desire to communicate with the community and explain their actions.
Sam – this is great journalism. I always enjoy these ‘insider’s view’ type of articles, and going to other European governing bodies to find out how they compare is a great idea. Looking forward to more from Coach X!
There is no doubt that the EB has very limited fianances, especially as it has relatively recently had its funding cut by Sport UK/England.
Are so many professional staff needed, especially as it would seem that some offices impinge on others?
Maybe there should be a person wholly responsible for getting sponsorship packages, say for U16, U18, junior league, BBL, etc. etc. Of course to gain sponsorship it is essentiual to offer a quality product.
Will GB be in existence after 2012?
Again is it to do with our culture in that all or most sports expect players to pay to play for their country.
In Spain, nothing could be further from the truth. I believe all players selected to play for the country not only pay zero costs but actually receive a per diem when playing.
Whatever happened to Kalil Irving? I’ve not seen him on the circuit and he’s not mentioned in the u20 squad or withdrawal list.
Yes and No!
No – When I played for Enland U15-17 back in the 90′s, before the fall of the wall, our opponents from Villinius, Lithuania were so poor we gave them our sneakers as gifts! Conditions were tough for the teams and anyone who went to B-Ball camps like the excellent Cheshire camp ended up on beds in class rooms!
Yes – I do think we should find bursaries for the players to prevent exclusion for poorer kids whose families simply cannot afford it. Money is not necessary for good training camps and this comes down to coaching competencies.
Essentially roughing it is not going to impact on outcomes. Does the senior England football teams comforts, result in better results then the 1966 world cup winning team? However, good coaching and prep will.
Perhaps we just live in a very material world now where kids look for the £s and $s – sadly country may come second.
ps good article and stimulating!
So basically :
Eb dont have enough money. We all know that. The only way that changes is either via the government or via player subscriptions/membership increases. If the program could run without player contributions I am sure that it would.
GBs administration is poor. I dont know enough about this but its a bot of a sweeping statement because of one individuals failure to properly get a shirt printed.
A team building boot camp is a bad idea. It might be, but it also might be exactly what the group needed. That comes down to the individual (volunteer) coach and without being on the inside is tough to judge.
A US brought up British kid who commits to playing the whole summer should not be picked precisely why? Particularly when we also know that 9 British brought up individuals chose not to play. Cant have your cake and eat it in that area I am afraid. If you are eligible and committed you have to be treated on the same basis as everyone else.
The sentiments expressed in this article are fine (albeit somewhat reduced in value by the authors wish to remain anonymous). Its just a bit short on practical input as to solutions.
I am the Mother of a player in the National programme currently at the Euros. Sportsaid refused to provide us with funding although they awarded £500 to a non National player in Manchester. We were told basketball had already received their funding. Who nominates the individuals ? Why should a National League player receive money but a National team member doesn’t ? Every single penny of his involvement (which Coach X has UNDERESTIMATED) has been paid by his family. Sponsorship is virtually impossible to obtain. It is very tough indeed.
I personally don’t see a problem with EB asking for a small contribution. This encourages fundraising and allows other organisations like schools to support. But I do feel that our National teams should get spoilt more with things like clothing so that they can wear them with pride. How about Nike shoe’s ID’d with “Euros 11″ on it or whatever.
I am an ’81 that played for England from 1996 – 1998 before moving my playing career to the U.S. I loved playing for my country…but then i had great people around me; Rick Woolridge, Chris Morgan and Sean Reed. Apart from these men, EB didn’t seem to care much about me as a person. They had no interest in what I was doing after 1998. I guess they thought that I had just vanished. It doesn’t seem like much has changed.
I don’t think money is the problem. People are the problem. I’m not convinced EB have the right people in the right places. The right people will produce great results. And if that means you should pay them then find the money
Money – I had the orginal figure at £700 which I also felt was an underestimate but was asked to change it by EB. They still feel the figure is too high which I know it is not.
Dave – Even with the funding cuts suffered by England Basketball, its funding is £5 million pounds over four years (2009-2013). My personal opinion is that if National teams are seen as a priority that £1.2 million per year is sufficent to fund the four national teams that represent us at the European Championships.
GB’s administration was highlighted by two examples. One being a mispelt shirt but more importantly for me press releases containing incorrect information. My entire article is illustrating why players do not see honour in playing for their country. Do you not see how a player might be disapointed that their National Federation has no knowledge of where they are currently playing? Is it just me that feels this is extremely disrespectful to players in question?
I did not say that an American player with a British Passport should not be picked for the GB futures team. Duco wrote a beautiful piece on hoopsfix recently about applauding those players that do put themselves on the line to commit to play with their National team and this is something that I completely agree with. What I want to see is these players that have committed to be developed and looked after and to be part of a system that makes them feel valued and wanted. Phil Waite, Joe Ikhinmwin, Paul Sturgess, Danny Carter, Orlan Jackman, Morakinyo Williams, Robert Marsden, Patrick Nyeko, Ben Mockford, Mike Ochereobia, Allie Fullah, Robert Gilchrist, Nigel Van Oostrum, Larry Awosanya, Alexander Scotland Williamson are all players in the States right now that have previously committed to the U20 program. Did all of these players turn down an invite for the team?
According to their financial statements, as at year end 2010 EB spent just under £650,000 on administration, nearly one third of about £2.2 revenue. How much did the National Teams get? Slightly over £155,00. Say no more. Nice read from Coach X.
Some fair points : but in relation to money its easy to say reduce administration, harder to say what to cut.
EB has a wide remit to develop all levels of the sport, not just elite. Refereeing, tabling, stats, local leagues, numerous national youth and adult leagues, registrations, discipline etc. £1.2 million a year is not a large sum when you take out permanent staff salaries, regional co-ordinators etc.
re gb futures : i am no fan of it : the gap between U20 and national team selection should be bridged by these guys pro careers. Similarly the england mens team that played a few meaningless games v Scotland and Lithuania last year. I dont know who was invited to show up but guarantee there are more eligible players than spaces. My view is that the futures program is just an attempt to see which guys can be shoehorned into GB camp late to make up the numbers. GB should drop it and reinvest that money into providing year round support for elite players to play in this country.
we could do with a few rich footballers helping out financially , top football clubs could also help, why cant sports in general support each other…
Originally coming from Lithuania I cannot understand why in financially stable country like UK cannot find sponsors who would be willing to invest by having their name proudly worn on NT shirts and other attributes. The country of just over 3M people manages to run all age group training camps (boys & girls) without any contributions from players or their parents. This is where the sponsors comes in. There should be hundred of companies who would like to see their name in media pictures, news and TV when their sponsored team would held a winning trophy no matter what age group.
Administration people who managed to misprint players name or put down wrong school of player who represents national team would be sacked straight away with no further explanation. It is very disrespectful and players should not tolerate that too!
Wait a minute, EB say that they have no money,but their going and forking out for a new sports center for NASSA. Here in the East Midlands we have shit all for facilities,the best we have are the Nottingham Wildcats Arena,Beauchamp College,Northampton Basketball Center and Noel Baker School. EB obviously do have money, but they would rather use it on other clubs than our National Teams, hence the reason why we are the one of the worst countries for basketball.
The funding for capital projects like UEL (University of East London) does not come from EB per se, but in conjunction with capital funding grants from Sport England, and probably the University. This was not money that could be put into National Teams directly…
Many years ago I was fortunate to have quite a few of my players selected to play for their country. At that time these players, or rather, their parents, had to pay all the costs involved, travelling, food, overnight stays and so on (even for track suits!!).
Some of the families could not afford these costs, so our club funded these players and suffice it to say the costs were extremely high. (The figures given by Coach X are most definitely on the low side)
I received many complaints from parents asking why players should have to pay for the honour of representing their country. After discussion with the parents I informed the EBBA (as the EB then was) that my players would not be available for selection unless their costs were covered by the Association. Needless to say this caused a furore, but, to cut a long story short, it was finally agreed that the Administration would start to pay for certain expenses.
Since this time of course many things have changed, but it is still the case that players are expected to pay to represent their country. I can see no reason whatsoever why a player who is selected to play for his country should pay any costs.
The EB state, in a reply to Coach X:
“Feedback from other nations at the European Championships reveals that player contributions is the norm and that amounts are similar to us although some are significantly higher”
I do not know the member of staff who gave this reply, or from where he researched his facts, but this is not true. It is not “the norm”
In Spain, no player from under 12 through to under 20 has to pay any costs whether to attend selection trials or, once selected, to play for his country. The same applies in Serbia, Sweden (although the selection method is slightly different in Sweden), France, Lithuania, and many other countries.
The EB also replied to Coach X as follows:
“The player contributions are only a small proportion of the costs of any national team activity and in return they do get good value: invaluable training, playing and travel (and life) experiences including meals and accommodation and with high level team staff.”
I do not agree with everything in this statement. The player contributions may be a small part of the costs, but to the player this cost is certainly not small. Neither would I agree the players always get “good value” in accommodation, meals, training, etc.. I can quote a number of examples as to where accommodation and food (KFC/pizza,- and after a talk on nutrition!!) was by no means the best and neither were training facilities.
One would hope that when an England national team arrive at training venues, it is afforded every courtesy that befits a national team and not have to herd into a busy changing room, to wait for the badminton to finish, or be expected to train and listen to the coach against a background of six a side football etc. etc.
Maybe, as I have said many times, it is the English culture or psyche that expects players to pay to play for their country.
One of the principal reasons given by the EB for players having to pay any costs is that of finance, but I do not believe for one minute that it is not possible for our Administrators to rearrange their financial priorities to enable player costs to be alleviated. How important IS the success of our national teams to basketball in general? How high a priority level is given to these teams by the EB?
If our national teams were properly and professionally administered and organized and seen to be QUALITY programs, able to compete successfully in international competition, there would surely be an excellent possibility that sponsors would be found who were willing to not only have their company name associated with a successful England national team, but seen supporting the youth of the country.
In other European countries, when the national team has any success it may well be covered not only by television but also by all the national newspapers. Players’ names and photographs will appear, interviews may well happen, and so on.
How much publicity is generated in this country?
Coach X suggests that players might turn down the opportunity to play for a national team because it is not considered an honour to play for the country.
I suspect that at the lower age groups, for example at under 16, this is not so much of a problem, as this is arguably the first time the player has had the opportunity to play for his country and will therefore be extremely keen to get selected.
It is towards the latter stages, under 18, under 20, that a player might be questioning whether to play or not. One only has to look at the preparation and training program that has been applicable to the U18 team this year, and has by and large been the case over previous years, to understand why a player might consider not playing. No one could possibly question how unprofessionally this season’s Under 18 program has been administered (players being left at an airport, etc.).
When an important international competition is scheduled is the team that is chosen to represent the country in fact representative of English basketball, rather than a team that simply represents England?
How many selected players are England based or started their basketball careers in England? How many players have been deprived of possible selection by players that might, through reasons of parentage or residency, be eligible to play for a national team but have played all their basketball outside of the country?
Coach X thinks that we should be at Division A level in all age groups. Perhaps we should, we certainly have talented players. Unfortunately this will not happen until we have a better structured coaching development program throughout the country. (but, as he says, this is another story).
Great article, pleasure to read.
I agree with all the points made.
That being said, regardless of camp conditions and small budgets it’s a chance to play for your country snap their hands off!
Keep up the good work.
Hey Coach X..
What do you think of the cancelation of the Coaching conference at the end of the month and also what do you think about the structure of the new coach education system that has been put in place????
Some interesting points from coach X. I have been involved in Euro (& World) champs with a number of countries and can tell you that there are others besides England kids that pay, quite a few in Div. B for sure (which I guess the person replying was referring to without having specifically said so).
Can EB do better with it’s money? For sure. Could it do a better job of running the game so there is more money coming in? For sure. Is the publicity poor? Yes, but not because of EB. The British media has almost no interest in bball, if it’s not Loul Deng or a fight in China, then good luck getting much mainstream coverage (although this is slowly changing).
There are a number of very good people at EB, however there is a small number (starting at the top) that prevent them from moving forward. EB has overcome the massive financial hole it was in a number of years ago (thanks in a large part to their CEO), but has stagnated the last few years (again, thanks in a large part to their CEO).
As for GB, money is much less of an issue, hwoever they are doing the opposite of EB and trying to run their NT programs as fully professional with no players contributions. They are doing what Coach X and other believe should be done, although at the senior team level they sometimes go too far with very expensive hotels and other costs. Staffing costs are another issue….
The admin side at GB is not the best in some areas, I agree. Likely a case of some people having to do so much for their pay while others do little.
Should the goal be to get player contributions to zero? Yes. For EB teams this is a little ways off but is achievable in the short term. Can the whole program be made more professional and attractive? Yes. The major problem comes from the top down at EB. At GB it’s more a matter of how they allocate resources (IMO).
Cheerio all.
I believe that some years ago when the EB was in considerable difficulty with its finace, Sport England decided to send in a team of six accountants to put things back in order. The CEO was then appointed, who was also an accountant, and has since managed to kep the finances stable.
It was also the CEO who said that in his opinion the Malin Report should be thrown in the wastepaper basket.
In the end, as in any business (which basketball must now be considered to be), it is the CEO that takes the ultimate responsibility for success or failure of his organization.
The only other personnel who must take any direct responsibility should be the Directors of the EB.
Only just picking up on some of the responses, sorry for the delay.
Chris – great point bringing up the National Coaching conference and coach development. I could and might actually write an entire post based on Coach development in the UK because as most people will know it is non-existent. I am a registered coach with England Basketball and the only ‘support, guidance or development’ that I recieve is the monthly email! I am not actually sure of the new coach education structure so you might have to fill us in a bit more, I am guessing that it is a Warwick Cann led intiative which makes you wonder what the full time coach education office does.
With regards to the coaching conference being cancelled this is obviously a massive blow for a number of coaches who would learn from some of the fine coaches at the BCA always attracts to their events. However seeing first hand the poor attendance at these events it comes as no surprise that the event has been cancelled. Its shocking that the BCA can bring in some of the greatest coaching minds in Europe to the UK and yet so few coaches are interested.
Unfortunately the BCA is a coaching association in name only as it does not have any members, other than to assume all coaches are automatically members (i.e. no subscriptive members).
All BCA offiials, other than one, are unpaid volunteers, which is no way in which to run such an association.
As I said in my article when comparing coaching in UK to that of other countries (http://www.hoopsfix.com/2010/11/coaching-in-the-uk-needs-a-radical-overhaul/ ) the BCA needs to become an authorative association that has certain power of control over and for coaches.
At the moment one of its problems is that the EB Coaching Development Officer is the Chairman of the BCA and this of course is a conflict of interest. Also, as he and his office have done almost nothing over the past years to develop our coaches or coaching standards, he really is not the person one would want for a chairman.
Warwick Cann gave a (not very charismatic) presentation of the Executive Summary of the proposed new structure for Coaches, but left unanswered many questions as to how it will be implemented, and funded. However it is implemnted, it will take many years before any results, successful or otherwise, will be determined.
One would also assume that the BCA will be associated with this development plan, although the BCA was completely ignored in the presentation.
What is the role of Warwick Cann in relation to all the other coaching and development performance positions?
I’ve only just found this article. On a personal level I wrote to various relevant GB people before the under 20 Euros on learning that Adam’s name was incorrectly spelled on his shirt. There was plenty of time to correct. I am still waiting for the courtesy of a reply. I live in Australia and managed to get to Under 16 and Under 18 Euros, I could not get to the Under 20s having taken Adam to college visits inc USU where he is now. I made sure Adam returned to the UK for the under 20 camp as fast as possible. I think I have shown respect and recognition of the honor of international representation as has Adams mother. So, my offer to GB basketball now, is that I will pay for a new shirt with a correctly spelled name so that my son feels that GB basketball takes the honor as seriously as he always has. International sport should be about commitment to excellence in all facets.
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