Located at Lyon’s Close in the Burngreave area of Sheffield, the court was in a neglected state, with faded line-markings and an uneven and cracked playing surface.
The location was also a hot spot for anti-social behaviour and vandalism.
In 2023, Sheffield City Council - backed by Safiya Saeed, Labour Councillor, Deputy Lord Mayor and Chair of the North East Local Area Committee and founder of Reach Up Youth charity - approached Basketball England with its plans to overhaul the site and wanted support and guidance from BE’s outdoor court campaign #ProjectSwish.
Additionally, the council collaborated with local community members, Friends of Ellesmere Park, ward councillors, Yorkshire Sport, and Make Space for Girls to design improvements for the park, ensuring the upgrades met the community's needs and preferences.
And so, the project - funded by Public Health, Youth Services, Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Veolia, and Basketball England - completed essential landscaping to improve the accessibility of the court, as well as the surrounding look and feel; the perimeter fencing was replaced to secure the area; the court surface was repaired and floodlights have been installed to increase playing time for local hoopers and to improve participant safety and reduce anti-social behaviour.
Through #ProjectSwish, BE contributed funding to fully repaint the renewed court surface.
This was designed and completed by local artist Trik09, with contributions to the design made by young people from the Reach Up Youth charity.
The court now boasts a bright and energetic blue and orange colourway, as well as the ‘Sports Over Streets’ slogan, which will appear on the newly installed fence panels. The slogan was chosen to promote the power of basketball in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.
New backboard inserts also match the design of the court.
The court now has up-to-date line markings to enable both full-court and 3x3 basketball.
Reach Up Youth, who deliver mentoring programs, volunteering schemes and sports activities in the Burngreave area, will take up a central role in the activation of this court, hosting weekly sessions for local children and young people to have a go at basketball.
"We appreciate our involvement with Sheffield City Council and Basketball England to redesign the court. Our young people and families are so excited to use the court. It is now a safe space with energetic colours . Thank you to everyone who worked on this."
“The transformation of the basketball courts in Ellesmere Park into a vibrant community hub is fantastic to see and exemplifies the positive impact of community engagement and targeted investment.
“We are incredibly proud of our heritage as the Outdoor City and as the City of Sport, and our sports facilities and community hubs, like this one, play a key part in this.”
"The first ever promo video for #ProjectSwish featured local Sheffield player Hamza Ibrahim and he shared with us that the court at Ellesmere was popular with local players and in need of some attention. Since then, we have been working with the council and local community to realise the project.
"The end result speaks for itself. A court designed by the community, for the community. We are excited to see how the transformation will benefit new and old users of the court for generations to come."
"Working with #ProjectSwish, Reach Up Youth and Sheffield City Council has been a great experience. This project has been quite personal one to me, as Ellesmere is one the courts I played on when I was younger. It has really felt like I've given something back to the scene.
"There has been a massive positive change for the local players and the area as a whole."
