England Basketball Release Annual Report

England Basketball released their annual report and accounts this week, featuring a detailed account of EB’s activities over the past year and statements from both the Chairman, Terry Donovan, and Chief Executive, Keith Mair.

For those that are interested in the administration side of things, it is well worth a read. View the full report here.

A few thoughts at first glance:

Notes

• Terry Donovan addresses the governance structure issue (the home nation governing bodies must decide on whether to unite as GB or stay as individual entities by June 30th 2012), and reveals that if the NGB’s were to unite, it would not mean that each individual federation would cease to exist-only that they would compete as GB in international competitions. I wasn’t aware of this before, and thought if they were to unite it would mean a complete overhaul of the governance structure. In reality, it doesn’t actually change that much.
• Donovan also talks about EB’s funding cut from Sport England, and makes many valid points-including certain sports (particularly Rugby League) already having far more funding per participant and showing even greater declines in participation but not suffering from anywhere near the same funding cuts. EB appealed to no avail, and one can only hope they reconsider. Expect an in-depth look at this on Hoopsfix in the near future.
• EB have put £475,000 into a new basketball facility at the University of East London where Newham All Stars Sports Academy will be based. Scheduled to open in early 2012, It seems the facility will become one of the central points for a lot of EB’s events (most are currently held in Manchester and Sheffield, which brings many complaints from those in the south!).
• Looking at total membership numbers (including BUCS members), it is amazing to see that the North-West has so many more members (2000+) than it’s nearest rival, London. Testament to the good work that is being done in the NW by the clubs up there, but also perhaps, a reflection of the mess that is London basketball.
• Total income for tax year ending in 2011 was £2,837, 027. Total spent on administration was £646, 567, that is just under a quarter of total income (22.7%).

Have you read the report? What do you think? Drop a comment!