[07 OCT 09] CRUSADER NEWS

 Youth League Update

By Adam Manning

Basketball is the second most popular sport among under 18s in Britain according to the National basketball Association, and the city of Coventry backed that claim up when the Warwickshire Youth Basketball League was launched on the 19^th September.

90 youngsters from three clubs at under 12 and 14 level turned out to play in the inaugurated weekly Saturday youth league at the Coventry Sports & Leisure Centre. These teams were the Coventry Crusaders, Coventry Tornadoes and the Blossomfield Hoops.  

Three weeks into the season and it’s already proving to be a competitive and unpredictable league in both age groups, dishing out entertaining score lines. The league has also received early enquiries from two other local clubs Tile Hill and Yardley about entering the second season which starts in January 2010. 

Each team at under 12 and 14 level play each team in their league on the same day on a weekly basis, with the under 12’s playing five minute quarters to a running clock, and under 14s playing four minute quarters to a stop clock. 

Warwickshire Basketball Association’s Youth Development Officer Dean Glover was satisfied with the short term progress the league was making, and singled out the Blossomfield Hoops as a team that has so far epitomised one of the purposes of the league. 

He said: “The players at Blossomfield have never played any Basketball outside of school before and they are developing their team skills and individual skills too in the 3 weeks that we have played. All the players have said how much they have enjoyed the league”.

Such is the enjoyment of the league that although Blossomfield lost heavily to Coventry Tornadoes 48-6 in the under 12s in the first week, they defeated the Crusaders 22-20 in the under 12s on the same day. 

While the league is there to help develop National League stars of the future, Glover also stressed that it’s open to anyone who is in the right age bracket. 

“The league is to be a development league: one to continue to grow & develop: players who may be on the fringes of a National League team, to get more experience & confidence to push for a place. Also that those that do participate just to enjoy the experience of playing basketball outside of school with qualified refs and table officials” he said. 

So what about long term plans for the league? 

“The long term plan for the League is for it to grow in the number of clubs that participate at the U12 & U14 age groups” Glover revealed. 

“We would also like to at some point, introduce an U16 age group into the league. We would also like to see the officiating of the league taken by newly qualified refs & table officials, hopefully young people”. 

At present the initiative only has one qualified table official, and is on the look out for developing youngsters into match referees and table officiators, as well as providing an ideal scenario for those who are ready for their practical officiating assessment. 

“We are looking to run a Refereeing Level 1 course in the near future and then the candidates from this can then gain experience” said Glover. 

“At the moment we have one table official who has qualified as a result of running the table at the league venue. We also have another two young people due to come down to do the table so they can gain their practical examination”. 

In terms of how the league will be promoted to the community, Glover said that the WBA’s website will eventually be the heart of all the required information. 

“We are at the moment working with Warwickshire Basketball Association who will be adding to their own website a Coventry & Warwick Youth Basketball section which will contain results, fixtures and any news that may need to be communicated”. 

Anyone who is interested in joining the league or for more information, contact Dean Glover by phone on 07906177514 or email him at dg012f0665@blueyonder.co.uk .

U14 Teams	Played	Won	Lost	Pts for	Pts Against	Points
Cov. Tornadoes	6	5	1	217	81	16
Cov. Crusaders	6	4	2	151	178	14
Blossomfield Hoops	6	0	6	48	125	6

 

U12 Teams	Played	Won	Lost	Draw	Pts for	Pts Against	Points
Cov. Tornadoes	6	6	0	0	190	46	18
Cov. Crusaders	6	1	4	1	68	136	9
Blossomfield Hoops	6	1	4	1	70	146	9

                                                                                                                        

  Main Menu | News | Youth League Update   07 OCT 2009