British basketball’s one-year funding reprieve but hard work starts now…again

British basketball will be breathing a small sigh of relief as UK Sport today announced the decision to revise their initial funding awards made late last year in the Rio 2016 cycle.

Further announcements will be made in due course over what exact figure British Performance Basketball will receive, but it is on a one-year conditional basis, with the further three years to be decided only after a strict review. This means the performance of Great Britain at Eurobasket this summer will no doubt be crucial for the future of the game in this country.

It may be yet another hurdle for the British side to clear, but perhaps today’s U-turn could be the key turning point for basketball in this country, being the proverbial rocket fired as a kick up the backside for the sport.

The full statement on today’s decision by UK Sport said:

UK Sport has today announced the outcomes of their Board meeting earlier this week (30 January) at which six National Governing Bodies (NGBs) took up the offer to make informal representation to UK Sport’s Board. This opportunity was offered to NGBs, outside of the formal appeals process, allowing them to make direct representation to UK Sport’s Board to reconsider the decisions made in December 2012 on the investment into Olympic and Paralympic sports for the 2013-2017 (Rio 2016) investment cycle.

The following NGBs attended to make informal representations:

• British Basketball
• British Disabled Fencing Association
• British Table Tennis Federation
• British Volleyball Federation (on behalf of beach, indoor and sitting volleyball disciplines)
• British Weight Lifting (on behalf of weightlifting and powerlifting disciplines)
• British Wrestling  

Following this process, the UK Sport Board has decided to award funding for the Rio cycle to Basketball and Wheelchair Fencing; and to revisit with Beach Volleyball the costs of operating a small squad programme for two athletes. It was decided that there will be no change to the awards given to the remaining sports**, due to insufficient evidence of medal potential in 2016 or 2020; or in the case of British Weight Lifting that the original funds awarded were sufficient to realise their current medal potential.

The application of our ‘no compromise’ approach means that we fund on a top down, meritocratic basis, as resources allow, and in pursuit of our high level goals for more medals in Rio and further success in 2020.

Basketball and Wheelchair fencing presented new and compelling performance information that reprioritised those sports and Board agreed to further investment.

However, in both cases, UK Sport’s award will be on a one year conditional basis with the following three years funding released only on the fulfilment of strict performance criteria. The exact amount of investment to be awarded to these sports will be determined through further dialogue with the two sports in the coming weeks.

Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of the UK Sport Board, said: “I appreciate this has been, and continues to be, a very difficult time for those sports and athletes with no funding. I speak on behalf of UK Sport’s Board when I say that we would like to thank those who presented to us on Wednesday for their commitment to the process and clear dedication to their athletes.

“We want to make it clear that we do not consider any of the non-funded sports to have failed. In fact most have made significant progress within this unique period whereby they were funded exceptionally given it was a home Games.

“Our decisions have been made on the detailed assessment of a sport’s future potential for medal success in Rio 2016 or 2020. The Board were assured by the level of detail that had been explored throughout the Rio investment process.

“These are tough decisions that the Board have to make to ensure our resources are focused on supporting every credible medal opportunity for the 2016 or 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “UK Sport is delighted to be able to confirm that we will now be investing in two additional sports for the Rio cycle, taking the overall total to 44 sports. These sports have credible medal potential for 2016 or 2020. This is a fantastic legacy from London 2012 for the UK high performance system and demonstrates the progress UK Sport has been able to make thanks to continued support from The National Lottery and Government.

“Our ‘No Compromise’ investment principles have generated incredible results in recent Games, and we continue to wholeheartedly believe in this approach to realise our high ambitions for the Rio 2016 Games, where we are aiming for more Olympic and Paralympic medals than were won in London. Our approach will deliver a stronger more sustainable high performance system.

“The door is not closed to any sport that has had their funding reduced or stopped. Every sport has the opportunity to come back to us at the annual review stage to make a case for future funding if they can demonstrate sufficient progress to evidence a credible medal opportunity within the next eight years.

“We will work with those sports that are not funded for the Rio cycle to manage this transition, to help them shape their future plans.”

Hugh Robertson MP, Minister for Sport, said: “I am delighted that at their informal representations, both Basketball and Wheelchair Fencing, were able to produce new performance data that showed that they have a realistic chance of getting a medal in 2020. This is good news for both sports, and would not have been possible without the Governments lottery reforms in May 2010.”

John Anderson, Performance Director for GB Canoeing and Chair of the Performance Directors Forum said: “Since the introduction of National Lottery funding to elite sport in the UK in 1997 we have worked in partnership with UK Sport to create a high performance system that is now World leading.

“The outstanding success at the home Games in London was achieved through our athletes’ dedication, talent and hard work, but underpinning this success was UK Sport’s ‘No Compromise’ philosophy that has been the bedrock of our success. No compromise is understood by athletes and sports but crucially also by our Government that has supported us all with the unprecedented levels of funding.

“We can now look forward to the Rio cycle and the challenges that we all face to continue to improve in everything that we do.”

British Performance Basketball, and also FIBA, welcomed the news after what has been a continued push from the whole basketball community seeking a U-turn.

British Basketball’s Performance Chairman, Roger Moreland said: “We are absolutely delighted with the decision of UK Sport today. They have acknowledged that we successfully presented compelling new performance data, which not only impressed the Board but made them recognise that we are potential podium contenders for 2020. They could see from our evidence and that supplied by Patrick Baumann from our International Federation (FIBA) that our sport has an upward trajectory in terms of both performance and participation.

“The endorsement and support of FIBA also played a crucial part in our success by demonstrating through technical information, how much progress we have made over the last 7 years as well as our position globally. We will now enter into a dialogue with UK Sport about the actual details and level of funding as well the support services required. This is a momentous day for British Basketball and everyone who is connected with the sports, whether players, fans or officials.”

Patrick Baumann, Secretary General of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) said: “I am thrilled for British Basketball and UK Sport’s recognition and appreciation of the very strong case we presented. The new funding will allow the sport to build on the progress and growth it has already made in a very short time and aim for a podium place in 2020.”

GB player, Drew Sullivan commented: “Today’s news is absolutely fantastic for the sport, I am overwhelmed to hear basketball have been awarded funding from UK Sport.

“This news puts GB firmly back on the map and on the road to success. I would like to say a huge thank you to all the fans who have supported the campaign to fund British Basketball.”