LONDON LIONS OFF TO THE CANARIES
London Lions have been drawn against CB Canarias of Spain in the opening round of qualifiers for EuroCup Women.
The WBBL Playoff champions have the first leg of two scheduled to be at home.
Should Mark Clark’s side qualify for the main draw, they will be in a group with Castors Braine, Rutronik Stars Keltern and BK Zabiny Brno.
And Clark said: “This is a historic opportunity for the Lions to compete on a European stage – the WBBL is growing in level every year, both on and off the court, and the Lions’ step into Europe this season is strong proof of that progress.
“To be the first WBBL team to ever make it to the EuroCup qualifiers and go head-to-head with some of Europe’s best clubs is a huge honour, and we’re setting our sights high.
“These talented women are an inspiration to so many young girls across the UK, and to be able to work alongside them and help them to show how far you can go in British women’s basketball – it’s a real privilege. We hope the news of their achievements this season will inspire and bring even more young people into our sport and the Lions programme.”
London Lions men will face Kapfenberg Bulls, Cluj and another qualifier in the group stages of the FIBA Europe Cup if they lose their opening BCL qualifier.
Meanwhile London Lions men’s captain Joe Ikhinmwin has announced his retirement from professional basketball.
Ikhinmwin, who played for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, was a senior figure as Lions emerged from perennial mid-table positions to join Newcastle and Leicester as the British Basketball League’s big three.
Do you like our work?
We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.
We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.
We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.
If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.
We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.
0 comments