Winchester Basketball Club Junior Programme.
New Junior Sessions starting the week begining 16th January (term time only)
New junior sessions at Winchester College on Thursdays 6-7pm for years 7-9. The cost is £1 per session - Coaches Debi Beard (Winchester Panthers Player (Coach) and David Senart (Winchester Wizards Head Coach)
Mini Basketball also starts up on Fridays 5-6pm at Princes Mead School for years 3-6pm. The Cost is also £1 per session - Coach Eddie Owusu (Current Wasps player and former BBL player).
Winchester Minis have a large effect
The Winchester City Basketball Club (WCBC) mini basketball squad has burst on to the scene by winning its first ever competitive match and subsequently winning the Portsmouth Invitational under 11s tournament.
The WCBC minis range from ages six up to eleven and 5 of the seven man squad had never experienced a basketball game before. However a mixture of enthusiasm and team spirit enabled them to beat more experienced teams from Havant, Portsmouth and Southampton.
The first match against Havant was a nervous affair with both teams unable to score for 2mins however once Tommy Deverill was able to score his first of many layups the tension was released from the team and WCBC opened up a lead of 10-0. In the end the final score was 30-10.
In the next game, the confidence was clear to see as Winchester went on to win 48-4 versus Portsmouth B. In this game young players like Asa Aziz (7 years old) and Malachi Owusu (6 years old) were able show their potential by grabbing crucial rebounds and making key steals.
The third game was against Portsmouth A, who started well by, scoring the first basket. Winchester hit back with great defensive plays from Reuben Aziz and cool finishing from Josh Cox. Sam Wonnacot's energy and enthusiasm was also a huge contributor to the team’s strength.
The three wins set things up nicely against the other undefeated team, The Solent Kestrels. Both teams were aware of each other’s dominance in previous games and this was an eagerly anticipated match up. It did not disappoint with Solent taking an early six point lead. Then consecutive baskets from Tommy Deverill, Bailey Sampson-Bridges and Reuben Aziz brought Winchester back in it. Deverill scored 4 more points to give Winchester the lead, then some great fast-break plays from Solent brought them level again. From this point on both teams traded baskets, showing amazing poise for their years. The game ended 22-22, so there 2 minutes overtime was required.
The over time was extremely tight the first and decisive basket was scored by Winchester's Tommy Deverill. This was the conclusion to what was an overwhelmingly dramatic final match and gave WCBC an outstanding start to their basketball experience.
Junior Warriors - Sessions now finished until September 2012!
Junior basketball will be available in Winchester this year on a weekly basis. Sessions will run on a “pay and play” basis, where there is no obligation to train, but there is a fun, relaxed atmosphere with competitive games and drills to help improve the skills, knowledge and love for the game.
Training starts w.c. 5th September 2011 (Sunday 11th Sept)
There are 2 different age groups to join and are not restrictive of ability:
School year group (age in Sept.) | Training day | Training times |
5, 6, 7 (8-12) | Sunday | 10-11am |
8, 9, 10, 11 (12-16) | Sunday | 11-12pm |
Training sessions are £3 per player, paid for on the day, in cash. A register is taken every session and is open to all ballers in Winchester, regardless of school or ability.
All sessions take place at Kings’ School Sports Centre (SO22 5PN).
See you there
2011 Hampshire Youth Games
Hampshire Youth Games
Winchester City Basketball Club in association with Winchester City Council entered a year 7-8 boys basketball team into the Hampshire Youth Games in Aldershot at the weekend. The team performed brilliantly to come home with bronze medals.
The Winchester team, predominantly made up of Westgate school pupils, battled well in all their games winning 4 and losing 2, scoring 114 points and conceding just 40 during the day. The wins came against Eastleigh 38-0, Havant 26-2, East Hants 14-4 and Portsmouth A 14-4 . The losses included a heartbreaking loss on the buzzer to the unbeaten gold medal winning Rushmoor team 12-14 and to runners up Portsmouth B 10-16.
The Winchester coaches, Rich Styants and Dan Wiltshire, are very proud of the teams effort and achievement during the day.
Back row: Dan Wiltshire, Fergus Marsden, Jontie Honey, James Redgrove, Jamie Boder, Front Row: Alex Wallace, Noah Harrison, Leon Henry, Will Stafford
