FIBA has made a significant financial contribution to British Basketball distributed to BE and its partners to host girls’ basketball events across England in March, May and June, inspiring and motivating a new generation of over 400 girls to play.
The target group for the project is primary and secondary school aged girls (6-15), who are not participating in regulated basketball.
The events will also pay homage to International Women’s Day (IWD), which is celebrated on the 8 March and recognises the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
“We are very excited to partner with such powerful women in the game this year. There are so many incredible women within our basketball community, and it will be awesome to see some of them in action leading our #HWHR events this year.
“The Her World, Her Rules campaign and the celebration of women and girls in March helps us promote regional female participation programmes.
"Each event has been planned to provide a positive first experience in basketball, as well as classroom-based activities to raise understanding of great teamwork, problem solving, healthy relationships, and other life skills that will benefit the participants.”
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games 3x3 silver medallist and London Lions’ Shanice Beckford-Norton will host the first and second events in the series on the 3 and 4 March at the Copper Box Arena.
One of the most decorated players in the Women’s British Basketball League (WBBL), Beckford-Norton also runs coaching clinics through her "SBN: For the Kids" charitable organisation.
Her activity will comprise of two separate sessions for primary and secondary school aged players, as well as treating all participants to a Lions’ home game at the Copper Box.
"The idea for the event is to make it as fun as possible, as it's targeted at girls who may have never seen or played basketball before.
"On court, we will have lots of fun and competitive games, with all-female staff who have the coaching background and personable personalities, characteristics and personal traits to be able to interact with these young girls and help them enjoy [their introduction to basketball].
"Off court, it will be about helping girls understand how to tackle inequalities, how to conquer those things and how to how to stay within sport, when they might not be having the best time. But knowing how important it is to stay fit and how fun being involved in sports, such as basketball, can be."
On IWD itself, Nottingham Wildcats legend Siobhán Prior, who won two WBBL titles with the Wildcats, as well as numerous other professional titles, will put on an open session for 120 participants.
Lead by youth leaders, the session will also include off-court workshops that focus on maintaining healthy relationships. Participants will also be invited to watch a live WBBL game at the Wildcats Arena.
“The sessions are about introducing basketball to girls that haven't seen it as an option for them at school yet. Secondly, it's about igniting the passion for what the sport can do for them, and what life skills they can learn.
“With the workshops, we're going to do a session on healthy relationships. In essence, the message is ‘how do you have positive relationships for yourself and for other people?’
“I think as an athlete, you have to manage so many different relationships, so it's about how do they learn to foster a sense of themselves in the decisions that they make, whilst also understanding that they're part of a bigger picture.
“It’s different to being able to tackle, maybe, some difficult conversations or even just bring awareness, especially with younger people, that these are things that they should be thinking about and that they can go hand in hand with the sport that they play.”
Sheffield Hatters’ taliswoman Georgia Gayle’s session falls on Mother’s Day (10 March) at the Canon Medical Arena.
Girls in attendance will have a session with Sheffield Hatters' Head Coach Vanessa Ellis and club players, plus an informal workshop on what it means to be part of team and a look at Hatters player-pathway case studies. They will also be able to see their coaches for the day in action against the Essex Rebels in the WBBL.
“It's a great way to give girls another opportunity to try basketball and for free. We are wanting to inspire girls to hopefully become future Hatters and enjoy the game like we do," said Gayle, who is the granddaughter of the late, great Betty Codona.
"Having regular free events and increasing locations to improve accessibility [can help to develop women's and girls' basketball in England]. Events should always be linked with professional teams to show the girls what opportunities there are for them in the future."
BE has also selected female leads within the community basketball sector, who have a long standing reputation of creating positive basketball spaces for women and girls, to deliver events in Manchester and Birmingham too.
In May, Jade Bow-Butters and Kate Lewis of Basketball England's North West Region’s Female Basketball Association will be at the National Basketball Performance Centre to host girls from local Girlguiding Brownies and Guides’ groups.
Then in June, Your Basketball League run by Kim Accalia, James Davies and Kevin Henry will invite local schools to take part in a session in the West Midlands.
#HWHR is one of FIBA’s most recognised initiatives that aims to promote women’s and girls’ basketball across the globe through various activities delivered in partnership with national federations.
The campaign was recently renewed for another four years after it helped 120,000 girls participate in basketball over its last funding cycle.
HWHR objectives are:
If you would like to find out more about any of the above events, please email [email protected]
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