Over 60 of the most talented Under 14 and Under 15 players in the country made their way to Manchester this morning for the opening day of camp for the newly launched England Talent Programmes (ETP).
The morning session comprised of a number of logistics before the players could get on the court. Registrations were completed, players were given Performance Enhancement meetings with a team of Doctors to ensure they were all in peak shape, and the various age groups also took part in a meetings and team bonding sessions to help ease them into the camp.
The afternoon session was reserved for on court activities, with six high intensity stations set up across the National Performance Centre to put all the players through their paces. Focusing on a number of different phases of the game, players were able to experience various coaching styles from the staff running each station, picking up a valuable guidance and learning along the way. Activities were brought to a close with some high intensity inter-group scrimmages so players could be observed in a game situation.
T E A M E N G L A N D 🏴
— Basketball England (@bballengland) April 8, 2019
Team mates. Competitors. The coaches are putting the players through their paces this afternoon with some high intensity work stations across the @natbballctr.#TogetherWeAreBasketbALL pic.twitter.com/KBLlXfsTiL
“I think after the players got to know each other, got through some of the nerves and started to feel more comfortable, it was nice for them to get on court this afternoon,” said Basketball England’s Performance Technical Manager Steve Bucknall. “It was good to see the effort, but truly speaking, these players need to bring that effort on the first day of a camp. It was good to watch them play games, and see which players came to the surface. We’ll be looking for more of the same tomorrow.”
This three-day camp in Manchester marks the first activity for the new ETP, with a full schedule of activity planned for the summer of 2019. The camp will provide a valuable evaluation opportunity ahead of trips to Paris, Valencia and Copenhagen as the ETP embraces the ethos of exposing young players to the style and rigours of European competition from an earlier age than ever before.
We’ll have coverage of tomorrow’s camp activity on the Basketball England Twitter feed as well as our Instagram Story. For a gallery of images from today’s action, please use the button below.
