October will signal the beginning of the brand new Aspire Programme as part of Basketball England’s new talent pathway.
The Aspire Programme sessions are important for the development of potential England & Great Britain team players and will continue throughout the 2018/19 season. The objective is to provide quality coaching for 11 to 15-year olds with the emphasis on teaching the principles of basketball as a game and reinforcing the skills necessary to develop better basketball players.
Aimed at players born between 2004 and 2007, those attending the Aspire Programme will have already either been part of the Talent Pathway previously (Regional Performance Centre, Regional Development Tournament) or been referred through their club to their Regional Talent Manager.
Basketball England’s Regional Talent Manager for the East Michael Ball said, “The Regional Aspire programme is a vital step between club basketball and the International programmes of Basketball England and Great Britain Basketball. It is a chance for the very best players to come together to develop on and off the court, be surrounded by likeminded players and staff and to be educated about the next level on the player pathway.”
Aspire Sessions will take place between 10:00am and 4:00pm, however players will be grouped into age/stage appropriate groups and will be asked to either attend from 10:00am - 2:00pm or 12:00pm - 4:00pm. During the four hours, players will benefit from on court coaching in line with the new Basketball England Player Development Framework as well as education sessions covering several different topics including hydration, nutrition, sleep and injury prevention.
If a club wishes to nominate age appropriate players for the Aspire Programme, please contact your Regional Talent Manager with the player’s name, parental contact information and the reasons for your referral. Please ensure that before your referral you have spoken to the player, as well as the player’s parents or guardians about the Aspire Programme and have received consent to share their contact information with Basketball England. If consent is not obtained, Basketball England will refuse the referral until the parents or guardians have consent to it.
The sessions of the Aspire Programme will take place on the following dates in each region:
Aspire 1: October 28 2018
Aspire 2: November 25 2018
Aspire 3: December 22 2018
Aspire 4: January 6 2019
Aspire 5: February 24 2019
Aspire 6: March 17 2019
Aspire 7: May 26 2019
Aspire 8: June 9 2019
Further information (including venues & cost) will be communicated to identified players/parents directly.
