Wigan Athletic promotes hoops with help from Cheshire star

For the most part, links between football clubs and basketball clubs in Britain has had it’s peaks and troughs over the years, but now, following on from the Olympics, and after a successful trial with a number of other sports, Wigan Athletic Community Trust have teamed up with England Basketball to help develop basketball in Wigan.

The scheme has already given opportunities in badminton, judo, table-tennis and volleyball and more than 27,000 have taken part in 9,000 new club and taster sessions, with over 80 new clubs being established across the four sports.

An additional £2m of investment is taking the project through to 2013, it will enable Premier League 4 Sport (PL4S) to provide extra legacy to build on the 2012 Olympic Games in London as well as basketball, is introducing handball, hockey and netball into the scheme.

To launch the new programme, Latics defenders Ivan Ramis and Roman Golobart attempted to replicate their football skills on the basketball court at a special training session with 30 young people at Hawkley Hall High School on Thursday.

The two players joined in dribbling and shooting drills before taking part in a match with the young people.

Latics new Basketball Officer, and BBL’s Cheshire small forward, Chris Pearce said: “Both players really got stuck in and seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the young people.

“They had obviously both played basketball before and hopefully their appearance and working with Wigan Athletic will help to inspire young people across Wigan to become involved in basketball.”

Basketball is the latest sport to be delivered by ‘Latics in the Community’ as part of the PL4S scheme which has been organising other sports sessions for over 400 young people a week since 2009.

As well as running weekly coaching sessions the project will also see the introduction of a weekly basketball league and sessions for players between the ages of 14 and 25 as part of England Basketball’s national IM Basketball programme.

Matt Baird, National Club Development Manager for England Basketball said: “England Basketball are very excited to be working with Wigan Athletic through the Community Trust to deliver a lasting legacy for basketball in Wigan.

“Wigan Athletic Community Trust are perfectly place to help us achieve this due to their excellent community delivery and extensive local partnerships and through delivery of basketball as part of the Premier League 4 Sport programme we will to introduce more young people into the sport and keep them playing on weekly basis.

“We are confident that this long term partnership that will help to deliver community basketball for many years to come “

For more information about Wigan Athletic Community Trust’s basketball programme please contact Basketball Officer Chris Pearce on 01942 488 530 or e-mail c.pearce@wiganathleticct.com.

• (Picture/Wigan Athletic Community Trust: Roman Golobart with local Wigan schoolchildren)