Dani Williams

Key findings announced following far reaching British Wheelchair Basketball League Review

Listening to the voice of the members is at the heart of today’s League Review findings announcement. Enabling the membership’s foresight and vision of the sport has driven the unveiling of ten clearly defined goals which will support the delivery of the overarching ambition to ‘establish a professional wheelchair basketball league by 2024’.

The League Review outcomes firmly focus on strengthening the foundations of the sport to support sustainable growth. With a number of areas already in development, the ten focus areas are:

• 5v5 focus whilst exploring opportunities to develop 3v3 game
• Enable a flexible competition format – local participation to high level competition
• Focus on Coach and official mentorship and skills development
• Digital efficiencies across the sports administration including membership registration
• Classification System Review
• Enhanced club development support and guidance
• Development of league regulations and governance
• Engage with new audiences – engaged fans and improved public visibility of the sport
• Deliver safe playing opportunities
• Reinstate the National Cup Competition

Responsible for the delivery of the League Review findings is British Wheelchair Basketball’s CEO, Lisa Pearce, who commented:

“Fundamental to the success of our sport is to actively engage and listen to our membership. The far reaching league review has enabled all participants of the sport to really shape the future vision of wheelchair basketball in the UK.

“The consultation process took place over an entire season and was conducted both online and face-to-face. It has been an incredibly positive exercise for all involved and once again highlights the passion of everyone involved in this incredible sport.”
 

British Wheelchair Basketball to reinstate National Cup into its domestic competition calendar for 2019-20 season.

The National Cup will make a welcome return as British Wheelchair Basketball unveils the date of the first National Cup Final as Saturday 18^th January 2020. For the inaugural year the final will be hosted by the University of Essex, and thereafter hosted at venues across the UK.

The Cup competition will be thrown wide open offering all BWB affiliated teams the opportunity to compete for the title.  In what will undoubtedly be an exciting competition, teams will play an initial round to determine their place in either the National Cup, or lower seeded National Shield tournaments.  Hosted knock-out rounds will then qualify four successful teams into the either the National Cup or Shield January 2020 finals. 

British Wheelchair Basketball’s Participation Director, Jo Richards is delighted to announce the news and commented:

“We are listening to our players, clubs and teams and the reinstatement of the National Cup is a direct response to their feedback during our recent National League consultation process.

“As a National Governing Body it is an honour to bring back the much loved National Cup and add another quality competition into our calendar.  We are driven to evolving playing opportunities for all participants and the National Cup provides a format to engage with players across the wheelchair basketball landscape.”

Team entry criteria will be released during the Spring ahead of the 2019-20 season.

British Wheelchair Basketball releases new Classification Policy and Processes in Athlete Centred Approach to underpin a robust Classification System in the UK

British Wheelchair Basketball (BWB) has undertaken wide reaching consultation in the area of Classification over the past 12 months, alongside the recent league review which called for a clear and robust classification system. In response BWB is releasing a new Classification Policy to ensure transparency and understanding across the sport.

The new policy provides clear and concise information to athletes entering the sport or moving through various levels of wheelchair basketball from participation all the way through to International representation. The new athlete centred Policy places the individual at the heart of the process, allowing them to gain accurate and clear information and support throughout their Classification journey.

Supporting Documents: BWB Classification Policy

In a bid to align to the processes at the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), BWB is instructing a review to ensure all athlete eligibility in the domestic game is in line with current international classification guidelines. The introduction of a new BWB Eligibility Panel will allow for transparent and efficient processing of applications for eligibility moving forward.

BWB classified athletes at 4.0 and 4.5 and/or athletes with classifications based on specific medical conditions (described below) will be required to complete the review. Athlete’s requiring assessment for eligibility will be required to submit documented medical evidence to the BWB Eligibility Panel for review.

Read More

Four clear objectives underpin British Wheelchair Basketball’s decisive new five-year strategy.

Announced today, British Wheelchair Basketball’s strategy delivers the blue print for a far-reaching fundamental transformation of the sport and its wider public perception as a professional sport. 

The Strategy’s bold targets will position the inclusive sport (open to both disabled and non-disabled participants) alongside more prevalent British team sports, through the growth of participation opportunities and demonstrably increasing the visibility of wheelchair basketball across the media.

Shaped by the sports’ participants, following an extensive consultation process, the five-year Strategy outlines a collective ambition to realise a progressive future for British Wheelchair Basketball under the areas of participation, competition, GB teams and National Governing Body (NGB).

• Double Participation – Dramatic participation growth, with a current potential of up to 70,000 participants, will fundamentally support the development of the sport including building the schools and universities network, creating new recreational opportunities to play the sport, establishing a strong GB player pathway, generating thriving competitive leagues, nurturing a sustainable workforce and creating a successful national club and community partnership delivery network.
• World Class Performance Programme – Core to the ambitious performance strategic targets is the formation of a GB Academy to ensure continued international medal success, building on the GB team’s current World Championship successes. The Academy will clearly define the development pathway for players with GB potential by effectively creating an incubation hub to develop players to feed into selected senior and junior GB squads.
• Professional Domestic League – Critical to the success of the whole strategy is the development of a UK Professional Domestic League which will attract and retain the world’s best wheelchair basketball athlete talent. Alongside the professional league will be the delivery of more high quality, competitive playing opportunities including the formation of local leagues to give communities across the UK the opportunity to play the sport.
• World Leading NGB – Realised through the digitalisation of the sport, the delivery of regular high-quality broadcast and spectator opportunities, and the ability to welcome new commercial investors to join the sport’s impressive journey.

Delighted to be making today’s Strategy announcement, British Wheelchair Basketball’s Chair, Professor Philip Wilson, commented:

“The opportunities for this sport both domestically and internationally are impressive. British Wheelchair Basketball has a compelling competitive UK league which is continuously drawing new audiences to the sport, both spectators and participants.

“Our four strategic objectives have been borne from actively listening to our participants and defining how they want to see the sport evolve and grow. It will be an exciting journey for British Wheelchair Basketball as the sport breaks new ground and we proudly establish the United Kingdom as the premier nation world-wide for wheelchair basketball.”

Responsible for the successful delivery of the new strategy is British Wheelchair Basketball’s CEO Lisa Pearce, who added:

“The announcement of British Wheelchair Basketball’s five-year Strategy sets-out an extremely positive shared future vision for the sport. This members’ strategy brings to life the participants’ vision for the future of the game and their ambitions for growth.

“We know our sport plays a critical role in our participants’ social and physical development with 70% of members being inactive before playing our sport. We also know that 78% of our participants have reported a positive impact on their mental health and personal development.

“I have no doubt that the delivery of this Strategy will ultimately benefit all of society with more lives being positively influenced through their interaction with this incredible sport.”

2019-2024 Strategy – Read More

The UK’s top wheelchair basketball teams to hit screens across the UK this spring

The elite of wheelchair basketball’s Premier League will see their games broadcast live from home cities in 2019. The fixtures will air during the pivotal closing end of the season where teams look to cement their final league standings ahead of the National Championships finals.

The sport’s National Governing Body, British Wheelchair Basketball, has stressed its commitment to delivering quality broadcasts of its domestic leagues. Two premier division battles will be aired via BBC Sport Online in March and April, ahead of the May National Championships finals, which sees the top four teams, face off for the coveted title.

The teams will include big names of the wheelchair basketball world, with decorated Paralympians and GB internationals on their rosters.

Both games will be available via BBC Sport Online and game tickets will be available to watch the action unfold live:

•        Sunday 3 March // 4:30pm Tip // London Titans v The Owls // Venue – UEL
•        Saturday 6 April // 5:30pm // The Bears v CWBA // Venue – Birmingham University

A hugely popular Paralympic sport, over the last twelve months British Wheelchair Basketball has been very clear in its ambition to offer fans the opportunity to engage with the sport and the sporting stars outside of Paralympic competition and the European Leagues.

Mike Sharrock, CEO of the British Paralympic Association, added: “It’s hugely important that the Paralympic Games are not the only opportunity for fans to enjoy and engage with their favourite Para sports. This development is hugely exciting for fans of wheelchair basketball. This is a coveted title and with some of the world’s best players set to take to the court, I’m sure we can look forward to enjoying some really exciting games.”

Lisa Pearce, CEO of British Wheelchair Basketball “This is a huge development for our National League, alongside last week’s Women’s League streaming announcement it will revolutionise our sport. We are bringing wheelchair basketball into people’s homes and offering them the opportunity to follow the teams of their GB heroes.

“This announcement brings us closer to unlocking the potential of this ambition and introduces a wheelchair basketball game into the homes of the UK public every month until the Season closes in May.”

News Announcement

IZB Regional Qualifiers – dates released

Schools and colleges can now register for the 2019 Regional Inclusive Zone Basketball (IZB) Qualifiers that are taking place across the UK. 

IZB competitions will be held in nine regions with the winning team from each region progressing to the IZB National Finals hosted in Worcester on 1 May 2019.

The Regional Qualifiers are open to all schools/colleges to attend; for those who haven’t previously played the sport British Wheelchair Basketball can facilitate links with their local wheelchair basketball clubs who can support with equipment and coaching.

IZB offers schools and colleges the opportunity to introduce a truly inclusive sport into their physical education offering. The game enables students to experience one of the countries favourite parasports first hand; IZB also offers schools and colleges the opportunity to deliver a sporting provision which allows all students to participate.

British Wheelchair Basketball’s Engagement Manager and IZB advocate Jay Popat commented:

“We are excited for this new season. It is a privilege to work with schools and colleges to develop their sports provision with a competitive and inclusive game. Every year it is an honour to hear about the lives of young people this game has impacted.

“Through developing links with local wheelchair basketball teams, schools/colleges are able to introduce IZB cost effectively and can draw upon the clubs first-hand knowledge of this excellent team sport.”

To discuss your schools involvement with 2019 IZB programme please email or call:

Jay Popat

Tel: 01509 279900

Email: j.popat@britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk

Register Now: 

Register your school team for a IZB Regional Qualifier 

GB Paralympian Caroline Matthews to receive MBE

Announced last night in the Queen’s New Year Honours, retired GB athlete Caroline Matthews is to be awarded and MBE for services to wheelchair basketball.

A true ambassador of the sport, Caroline has tirelessly worked to further the development of wheelchair basketball within Wales and on the international stage.

Caroline represented GB between 2002 to 2011, with an impressive 125 caps during her international career including competing at two Paralympics – Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

She was also one of nine athletes selected to the British Paralympics Association (BPA) Athletes Commission when it was founded.

Outside of her GB career Caroline changed the landscape of the sport within Wales and co-founded Cardiff Celts (now Archers). An accomplished Grade 3 coach, Caroline has been either Head Coach or Assistant Coach at club, regional, national and international level.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Caroline on her well-deserved nomination and MBE.