British Basketball will receive a £1.18 million bailout from Sport England and technical expertise from UK Sport in a bid to grow the sport in Britain, Sports Minister Helen Grant announced today.
Sport England has agreed to provide £1.18 million worth of public funding to British Basketball to support the men, women’s, Under 20 men and Under 20 women’s teams from November 2014 through to March 2017.
As part of the agreement British Basketball will invest £592,000 from its own money and from generated income over the funding period.
The funding will contribute to the travel and coaching costs for the teams competing in international competition.
UK Sport has agreed to provide the GB Basketball with expert, technical advice on talent identification – helping athletes progress through the ranks; the development of coaches and in the areas of science, medicine and technology to support the sport’s performance at the elite level.
“I am delighted that Sport England and UK Sport have responded to my call to see what more we can do to support basketball in Britain,” Minister for Sport Helen Grant said.
“The sport has a huge potential to grow and I want there to be a route for young people taking up basketball in this country to get to the top. GB Basketball understands that with this funding and support it has to step up, but I am confident that the sport will do that.”
While the investment will enable the GB teams to continue to compete at an elite level, it will come with new and stronger conditions around the governance of the sport.
Expert support from UK Sport will look to address the root causes of basketball’s underperformance against its targets in previous years.
UK Sport will conduct reviews of the sport twice a year, as part of its UK Sport Mission 2016 process, to ensure the sport is progressing performance wise. GB Basketball staff will also have the opportunity to apply for UK Sport development opportunities around coaching and leadership.
“This announcement is very welcome and we thank the Minister for her role in brokering a solution. We also thank Sport England for their investment and UK Sport for contributing their expertise,” Performance Chairman of British Basketball, Roger Moreland, said:
“The role played by the Basketball All Party Parliamentary Group chaired by Sharon Hodgson has been invaluable during this process. Many commentators in the media have been supportive as has the basketball community and the public at large. We thank them all for their support during a challenging period.
“This support enables us to prepare our teams for international competition in 2015. We particularly want to make sure that we can do everything possible to give our women’s team a great chance of succeeding at the European Championship finals, EuroBasket, in Hungary and Romania.
“Turning to the longer term, it is also important that everyone takes the opportunity offered to them by UK Sport to contribute to the consultation about their future strategy. Team sports like basketball that mean so much to so many people and play such an important role in encouraging interest in sport, need consistent support into the future. It is important that everyone thinks carefully and takes the opportunity to give their views through that consultation.”
The announcement has come after UK Sport withdrew all funding from British Basketball earlier this year.
Last week, UK Sport announced a consultation on its ‘no compromise’ ethos.
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