British Basketball Given Lifeline by Sport England - Hoopsfix.com

British Basketball Given Lifeline by Sport England

In a move that could save the home federations’ high performance programme, British Basketball could receive £500,000 a year from Sport England – providing it secures the same amount from elsewhere, The Telegraph reports.

With funding having been completely withdrawn from UK Sport earlier this year, British Basketball Chairman Roger Moreland has previously said they have until the end of this year before their reserves run out.

The Telegraph states the move puts pressure on UK Sport to follow Sport England’s move, as the grass roots funding body committed to help basketball continue to enter major championships on a ‘match-funding basis’ for at least the next 4 years through until 2018.

Nick Bitel, who is both Sport England’s Chairman and also sits on the UK Sport Board appears to be driving the move, and said:

“Sport England already invests in talent-development programmes for over 40 sports. This includes sports like basketball, which has a strong appeal among young people. That’s why we’re investing over £9 million in growing grassroots basketball participation and developing talent and why we’re interested in exploring what more can be done to support top players. We’re currently in discussions with our partners.”

Hoopsfix understands British Basketball are yet to enter any of the teams they are responsible for into European Championships next summer, with a deadline of the end of October to do so.

The Senior Women remain the biggest concern, after they qualified for EuroBasket, as well as the GB U20 men who will be competing in the Division A European Championships. The Senior Men failed to qualify this summer, while the U20 women are in Division B.

“We have had discussions with DCMS [the Department for Culture, Media and Sport] and Sport England regarding what more could be done to provide support to sports that we do not currently fund,” Rod Carr, who chairs the UK Sport board, said.

“This includes basketball. We do want more sports to be able to reach a performance standard that evidences their future medal potential within eight years.”

For more information, including quotes from Sports Minister Helen Grant and British Basketball Chairman Roger Moreland, read the full story at The Telegraph.

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  1. Pingback: British Basketball Reportedly Set to Be Rescued Without UK Sport Funding — Hoopsfix.com

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