Sport England - City Academy, Bristol. 9 July 2014
Image: Sport England.

Basketball is one of the largest team sports played in England, and Basketball England is set to receive funds to help more young people participate in the game.

Basketball England is to receive £4,730,000 of funding from Sport England to help build on its ambitions to increase participation in the sport. The game which has a strong appeal to young people; people on lower incomes; and people from black, Asian and ethnic minority communities, plans to use its funds to address the challenges of finding a good quality outdoor court and affordable indoor facilities.

Stewart Kellett, CEO of Basketball England, said: “We are delighted with the level of engagement of the basketball community in the build up to our bid for funds. Their voice and needs have been built into our proposals to help make the game better and support the many volunteers who make basketball happen in local communities.

“People in the sport tell us they want more profile for basketball and access to more coaches and officials that will raise standards and improve the playing experience in basketball. We want to respond to this and bring the sport to the forefront of the nation.”

1066x1600px-basketball-and-graffiti-wall-background-6A further £1,000,000 has been allotted to the GB basketball team which will support British Basketball as it prepares to compete in Eurobasket 2017.

The new investment, totalling £101 million from National Lottery and Government funding, will be allocated to 25 national governing bodies of sport (NGB) and will mainly target people who have a strong affinity with sport, including talented athletes trying to reach the top. Some of the funding will be invested in tackling inactivity, to get more people playing sport regularly and keeping that healthy habit as well as creating more sports clubs for young people and mass participation programmes and events.

Phil Smith, director of sport, Sport England said, “The funding and work will come into force in April 2017 and follows detailed discussions with each governing body about what contribution they can make to our new strategy.

“Receipt of funding is also conditional on the organisation meeting the requirements in our Code for Sports Governance published last year.”

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