News

Safeguarding & Protecting Children Course - 6th November 2018, 6.30pm to 9.30pm at Sports Wales National Centre, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff , CF11 9SW United Kingdom. To find out more or book your place click here

Basketball Wales was saddened to hear of the sudden passing of FIBA secretary general and International Olympic Committee member Patrick Baumann. 

Mr Baumann was the Secretary General of FIBA since 2002, and passed away at the age of 51.

Mr Baumann is survived by his wife and two children and our thoughts are with the family, friends and FIBA basketball community at this difficult time.

http://www.fiba.basketball/news/fiba-mourns-passing-of-secretary-general-and-ioc-member-patrick-baumann

Calling all referees, table officials, coaches and players...

As the new season gets underway, make sure that you are familiar with the new FIBA rule changes. You can find handy presentations in the downloads section. If you're unsure about anything, please contact officiating@basketballwales.com

Applications are invited for the role of Head Coach for the following Basketball Wales age group National Teams.

U13 Girls

U14 Girls

U18 Men

U20 Men

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of an emerging NGB as we develop players and staff for Welsh National Teams and for the GB programme.

Applications are welcome from both experienced coaches and those who are looking to take their first steps in international coaching.

Applicants should forward the completed application form together with a covering letter and CV by email to cameron@basketballwales.com and copying in enquiries@basketballwales.com by 5pm on Sunday 19 August 2018

Interviews will be held week commencing 27 August 2018

Successfully candidates for the role will need to attend an induction session on Sunday 9 September at Cardiff Met University 10am -12pm. Followed by the Basketball Wales National Team trials, commencing at 1pm. Venues TBC at later date.

Please download the job description, person specification and application form...here

Applications are invited for the role of Head Coach for the following Basketball Wales age group National Teams.

U15 Boys (FIBA Divison C 2020)

U16 Boys (FIBA Divison C 2019)

U16 Girls (FIBA Divison C 2019)

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of an emerging NGB as we develop players and staff for Welsh National Teams and for the GB programme.

Applications are welcome from both experienced coaches and those who are looking to take their first steps in international coaching.

Applicants should forward the completed application form together with a covering letter and CV by email to cameron@basketballwales.com and copying in enquiries@basketballwales.com by 5pm on Friday 17 August 2018

Interviews will be held week commencing 27 August 2018

Successfully candidates for the role will need to attend an induction session on Sunday 9 September at Cardiff Met University 10am -12pm. Followed by the Basketball Wales National Team trials, commencing at 1pm. Venues TBC at later date.

Please download the job description, person specification and application form...here

Basketball Wales would like to announce that the junior national team trials will be held on Sunday 9 September at venues and times to be confirmed.

Please make a note of the following...

Payment and Basketball Wales license

The coast of the trial is £7.50. Please make sure that you have paid for this in advance. No cash payments will be taken on the day. If you have not paid then you will not be able to take part in the trial. Please bring a copy of your receipt as proof of payment. You will also need a 2018/19 Basketball Wales License.

The PayPal portal for both payments will be available from Monday 20 August 2018.

Eligibility

Basketball Wales Bye Laws (26 June 2017) state that:

An athlete shall be eligible to represent Wales if they satisfy one of the following conditions:

(a) Born in Wales

(b) One or both parents born in Wales

(c) Grandparent/s born in Wales

(d) Have resided in Wales for 3 years immediately prior to selection

Age groups

Please make sure that your trial for your age group. Do not attend a trial for an older age group, even if you have played up an age group in previous years.

U12 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2007

U13 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2006

U14 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2005

U15 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2004

U16 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2003

U17 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2002

U18 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2001

U19 - born between 1 January and 31 December 2000

U20 - born between 1 January and 31 December 1999

Please note: These ages groups are based on a calendar year and not a school year.

Other things to remember...

Please DO NOT wear any Basketball Wales training kit to the trials

Please bring plenty of water

Please be on time

If you have any questions please email communications@basketballwales.com

Pelfasged Cyf (Basketball Wales) AGM

Sunday 29 July 2018

3.00pm

Welsh Institute of Sport, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff 

Plass Menai Sport Wales National Outdoor Centre, Caernarfon, LL55 1UE (Video link)

After months of negotiations, a way forward has been agreed to protect and grow the future of British Basketball. The Home Country Associations (HCAs) of England, Scotland and Wales, along with UK Sport and the UK Government have all helped to craft a sustainable and affordable plan that will safeguard the interests of all our members, whether at grass roots or in our national teams.

To reach this position we have worked closely with a number of crucial stakeholders, including the British Basketball League (BBL), alongside strong support from the Minister for Sport, Tracey Crouch, Alex Sobel MP, Sir Mike Penning MP, UK Sport and Sport England. We would like to thank them for their support during negotiations.

Our immediate focus

Unfortunately, the agreement had to be reached via the calling of an Exceptional General Meeting involving HCAs and British Basketball Federation (BBF), the organisation that runs the GB national teams. It was not possible to get complete agreement with BBF Board on crucial aspects of the way forward. As a result, the Board of BBF has elected to resign.

We will now work together to formulate a detailed way forward that all the governing bodies in the sport will deliver in partnership to achieve the following:

•         Keep our national teams on court and engage them more in the sport as a whole

•         Ensure continued solvency for BBF and file BBF annual accounts, which are still outstanding

•         Ensure that BBF is fit for purpose in terms of structure and the composition of its Board

•         Provide a forum for everyone to work together on key issues, including, but not limited to, performance basketball

•         Work together in raising significant commercial revenue

•         Share ideas and resources wherever possible.

All parties will now immediately focus on getting GB teams on court and reducing management overheads as we work to develop the sport from a strong foundation. 

Building strong HCAs and a strong GB

At the heart of discussions has been one central question: should we financially damage community basketball that is the lifeblood of our sport and that offers hope and opportunity to thousands of young people, in the hope of achieving success at GB level?

Throughout this process, the associations of England, Scotland and Wales have been united in their belief that success at GB level will only occur with strong HCAs, with effective pathways through to the senior teams, and with an acceptance that we are not an affluent sport at this time and need to cut our cloth accordingly. However, we believe that being pragmatic does not stop us from being ambitious for the sport we love.

We are acutely conscious that making the necessary cuts will be difficult in the short term. However, our priority in balancing the budget will be to keep players on court above all else, including working to ensure that we are able to field strong under-20s GB teams.

We believe that we need to work within our means and make sure that our resources are allocated to the community game, as well as the talent system. We believe that strong relationships within the game will be the foundation for strong and sustainable national teams, both on and off the court.

Recent media leaks

We would like to apologise to the basketball community across Great Britain which has had to deal with a confusing and fragmented picture of recent discussions with the British Basketball Federation, especially over the last few weeks, due to a steady stream of leaked information.

Direct communication with our membership is always important and we believe that there is a right way to do this. These leaks were out of our control and the HCAs have been united in refusing to engage in such tactics, which we believe only served to damage our sport.

Working together

As a national basketball community, we have seen that great things can happen when we come together. The Jr. NBA, the Special Olympics, amazing performances for Scotland and England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the recent coming together of community and national bodies to keep courts affordable in Edinburgh are all examples.  Unsung volunteers across GB are putting in time and effort to support those initiatives in clubs, schools, and with our GB teams. We believe that team work is vital to the future success for our sport.

We will make additional updates to the membership of our associations in the near future.