LISTEN: The Warm Up - Basketball hunts for sponsors to back exciting growth plans

Friday 19 July 2024

Plans to grow basketball through more playing opportunities and better facilities have been announced as the sport looks for financial support.

The Guernsey Basketball Association wants to build on the burgeoning interest that followed last year’s Island Games through initiatives like increasingly playing opportunities off island, creating steps towards a dedicated facility and growing its volunteer base.

It has launched a sponsorship push to get financial backing for its plans.

“We're looking to open the door up to various sponsorship partners who might be able to support us with various steps along that journey,” said GBA secretary Matt Smart.

“That might be supporting opportunities for younger players, it might be supporting the successful deployment of our domestic league, it might be looking towards more longer term aims of having our own facility which will help us achieve key things to deliver development on a number of levels.”

Basketball currently runs men’s and women’s top leagues, a second division and junior leagues.

“We've got kids coming up to us asking us, ‘can we play more games, can we get involved?’” said GBA Treasuer James Tracey.

“So that's been fantastic. It's that momentum that we've created from the Island Games, having it in Guernsey, where kids turned up and they saw how fantastic basketball was, they saw what the atmosphere was, and how enjoyable it is to play. They've had those opportunities through the Future Stars program, which Pat Ogier leads. We’ve seen that groundswell of junior players which will start to filter into the league.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the GBA’s plans and the opportunities can visit their website, email guernseybasketball@outlook.com, or check their social media pages.