The four independent national basketball associations of Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland are each separately affiliated to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). As such they each participate separately in European championships, nominate officials for international licenses, and represent and vote at World and European Conferences.
However qualification for the Olympic Games can only be by Great Britain and a united team is required. The British & Irish Basketball Federation (BIBF), with substantial grant aid from the Sports Council, was responsible for the preparation and participation of Great Britain teams in Olympic qualifying tournaments from 1960 until 1992. In 1993 FIBA abolished the qualifying Olympic tournaments. By 2004, with Northern Ireland an integral part of the all-Ireland basketball association, and the BIBF no longer fielding British teams, Ireland resigned from the BIBF. In October 2004 the BIBF changed its name to Great Britain Basketball and altered its membership structure to include other British basketball organisations as members.
In 2006 the British Basketball Federation (BBF) was formed being constituted by the three home nation governing bodies of England Basketball, basketballscotland, and Basketball Wales. The BBF is presently recognized by FIBA, FIBA Europe, the British Olympic Association and UK Sport.
With the decision to bring the Olympic Games to London, the concept of combining in order to field basketball teams to represent Great Britain for the first time since 1992 was discussed by representatives of the governing bodies for Scotland, England and Wales in 2005. In November 2005, following the approval of the three home nation's executive boards, and with FIBA Europe Secretary General Nar Zanolin in attendance, home nation representatives met, ratified and signed a Memorandum of Understanding which would enable Great British teams to enter the FIBA Europe EuroBasket competitions for the first time. With the subsequent approval of both the FIBA and FIBA Europe Boards, Great Britain teams took their places in the EURO B competitions in 2006.
In December 2007 British Performance Basketball Ltd (BPB) came into existence following an agreement between UK Sport and the BBF with the aim of steering the Great Britain men's and women's basketball teams through to the 2012 London Olympics. At that time BPB was a wholly owned subsidiary of UK Sport established for the single purpose of processing World Class funding for the delivery of the GB programmes. Following formal recognition of the British structure in December 2008, the operation of Great Britain teams is now managed by BBF's wholly owned subsidiary company British Performance Basketball Ltd (BPB). Both the British Basketball Federation and its performance company British Performance Basketball now trade under the title of "British Basketball".
With the November 2005 agreement in place Great Britain teams were able to participate in the European Championships and since 2006, British Basketball has scored some spectacular successes that have helped place basketball in the Great Britain firmly on the sport's world map. With many British men and women now learning the game and playing professionally across the United States and Europe, the sport is enjoying an unprecedented period of growth and interest.
In 2006/07, both the men's and women's teams participated in Division B of EuroBasket for the first time and both succeeded in being promoted to Division A with performances that augured well for the future. The promotions also saw British Basketball invest considerable efforts into assessing performances and determining what needed to be done to see continued success through to the London Olympic Games and beyond. To that end, British Basketball also placed special emphasis on the under-20 programmes in an attempt to ensure that a world-class platform exists across all four teams and that the cream of young British talent graduates to the senior levels.
The summer of 2008 saw British Basketball take further strides on the world basketball stage when the senior men's team, consisting of players with a world-class pedigree such as Luol Deng, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Joel Freeland and Andy Betts, compete in Group A of Eurobasket with the aim of securing one of the places available for the 2009 European Finals in Poland. In a pool with established European nations Israel, the Czech Republic and Bosnia, GB pulled off a major upset by winning the group and qualifying for Eurobasket, where they appeared for the first time in September 2009.
The senior women were less successful and, in January 2009, a team that was without many leading players due to injury and club commitments was relegated back to the B Division of Eurobasket. However, in May 2009, British Basketball was able to convince governing body FIBA Europe that it was in the best interests of the sport in Britain to re-instate the women to the A Division, a step which provides the women's programme with an enormous boost as it prepares for 2012. The appointment of the highly-respected Australian Tom Maher as coach of the women's team also provided GB with confidence that they can satisfy FIBA's requirement that they prove they are "competitive" before being awarded a place as host nation at the London Olympics.
After considerable consultation, British Basketball's 'Game On' high performance strategy was finalised and approved by all the home nations in September 2008. For the first time in Great Britain this strategy brings together all key stakeholders in developing a single coherent performance pathway to develop talented youngsters across Britain. The key component of this strategy is the creation of a 'performance beam' that aims to identify, track and develop talented youngsters in the home nations with a view to them eventually performing at their peak for Great Britain on the world stage. In conjunction with England Basketball, a Performance Pathway Coordinator has recently been appointed with the specific purpose of bringing the 'performance beam' to life.
The British Basketball performance company is led by a six-member board, overseen by the BBF. The British Basketball office is currently located within UK Sport's Offices in London. .
Senior Men
GREAT Britain's senior men will make their first ever appearance at the 2009 Eurobasket Finals in Poland, just three years after the team was founded. London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, announced in 2005, saw the former national teams of England, Scotland and Wales amalgamated into a GB team in order to be eligible to participate in those Olympics. And, from such humble beginnings, GB has quickly become established as a strong international programme, under the guidance, since 2007, of British Performance Basketball.
Starting in the B Division of Eurobasket, a hastily-organised GB team went 2-2 in their promotion group in 2006. But, after Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng pledged his commitment to the squad in 2007, GB's fortunes took a huge upturn. In the second phase of the promotion group, coach Chris Finch led GB to a 4-0 record and a comfortable victory over Switzerland in a play-off to gain a place in the A Division of Eurobasket. That team also included former NBA forward Robert Archibald and experienced European-based centre Andy Betts. The addition of NBA forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu and promising young big man Joel Freeland, a first round NBA draft pick of the Portland Trailblazers, for the 2008 Eurobasket qualifying round would also prove significant as the Brits found themselves in a difficult group containing Israel, the Czech Republic and Bosnia, nations with a strong basketball pedigree. However, having almost pulled off a stunning upset in the opening game against Israel in Tel Aviv, GB recorded emphatic home victories against all three teams before concluding their campaign with road games in the Czech Republic and Bosnia. On a famous night in Padubice, GB pulled of a 67-63 victory that assured them of first place in the group and a place in the 2009 European finals (Eurobasket) to be held in Poland.
The draw has not been kind to GB and they will be forced to play reigning world champions Spain, Slovenia and Serbia in Poland - illustrious company that shows how far the GB men's team has journeyed in such a short space of time.
Senior Women
GREAT Britain's senior women have experienced an unpredictable ride since their formation in 2006 but, as the Olympic Games draw ever closer, the future looks promising for the fledgling programme. The start of 2009 saw British Performance Basketball name respected Australian Tom Maher as head coach of the team, an ambitious appointment given his experience with the national women's teams of Australia, New Zealand and hosts China, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Maher took over a team that had recently been re-instated to the A Division of Eurobasket, a significant step in Britain's efforts to secure their place as hosts in the 2012 Olympic basketball tournament.
As was the case with their male counterparts, GB's women experienced immediate success upon entering the 2006 international season, attempting to gain promotion from the B to A Division of Eurobasket. Under coach Mark Clark, GB made an instant impact at the B Division level, going 6-2 over the summers of 2006 and 2007 in a qualifying group that featured Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Estonia and Luxembourg. That record clinched second place in the group and carried Britain through to a play-off with the Netherlands where a stunning 68-32 home victory, and a two-point win in the return road leg, assured GB of a place in Division A for 2008.
GB were able to call upon a number of women experienced in American college and European professional basketball and Megan Moody, Kirsty Lavin, Stefanie Collins and Rosalee Mason were among a long list of players to make significant contributions. However, GB found the step up to the A Division of Eurobasket difficult in 2008 as injuries and player unavailability took their toll, as did a number of agonising defeats in close contests. Despite solid performances from rising stars like Kim Butler, who led scoring with 14.9 points a game over the campaign, GB finished bottom of their qualifying group with a 1-7 record and were placed in an additional relegation round which was played in January 2009. Despite recording a 3-3 record with a depleted team, GB could only finish third in that group and were relegated to Division B, a decision which was later overturned by FIBA Europe.
Under-20 Men
GREAT Britain's under-20 men's team may have started slowly in the international arena since coming together in the summer of 2007 but British Performance Basketball is now focused on helping to develop some of the country's emerging talent.
The summer of 2006 was a taste of things to come for the Brits as they opened group play in Division B of the European Championships with six consecutive defeats. A comfortable 87-68 success over Ireland, featuring 20 points from Benjamin Lewis, finally got GB off the mark but the team could finish no higher than 14th in the 16-team field. Coach Jeff Jones oversaw a vast improvement in 2007 as the under-20s finished 8th of the 18 teams that made up the B Division. GB finished 2-5 overall, losing a play-off to Slovakia 75-68 to decide 7th/8th place, with impressive wins over Belgium and Romania and even more impressive performances from Spanish-based big man Dan Clark. Clark averaged 16.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots a game throughout the tournament for coach Jones, with other eye-catching displays coming from team mates Paul Guede (13.1 points a game) and Ashley Hamilton (12.6 points).
With Tim Lewis, also an assistant coach with the senior men, taking over the team for the 2008 campaign, GB saw their players gain further experience - and one more victory - but a 3-5 record was only good enough for 15th among the 19 competing nations. However, the performances of US-collegians Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Ben Allison, in particular, along with another strong showing from Hamilton, suggested some of the current under-20s may be competing for a place on the men's roster at the 2012 Olympics. Bryan-Amaning led the team in points (16.9 per game), rebounds (7.3) and blocks (1.6).
The summer of 2009 will see the under-20 men once again in the B Division, a central-venue tournament played in the F.Y.R. of Macedonia, where they will open play in a group alongside Finland, Norway and Poland.
Under-20 Women
LIKE their senior counterparts, Great Britain's under-20 women have experienced a wide range of fortunes in their three summers of international basketball.
The initial campaign, of 2006, started well for the under-20s as they began life in the B Division of the European Championships by reaching the semi-finals in Sopron, Hungary. There, despite 22 points from Jo Leedham, who has since gone on to make her mark in senior international basketball, GB were downed 77-68 by a strong Serbia & Montenegro team and denied a place in the Final. Coached by Vanessa Ellis, the Brits went on to lose the third-fourth place play-off 84-52 to the Slovak Republic, but a 5-3 record and fourth place were remarkable achievements. So, too, were the scoring exploits of Leedham, whose 18.5 points per game placed her third in the entire tournament, and the rebounding displays of Angelina Browne who led that statistical category for the whole event with an impressive 13 a game.
A year later, and GB went one better, finishing third after losing a semi-final for the second consecutive year, this one a close 69-61 loss to eventual winners Montenegro. A number of players who would go on to graduate to the senior women's team were impressive during that campaign but Leedham was again the star of the show, leading GB in all statistical categories - 22.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.9 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. Leedham had 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists as GB bettered Portugal 79-73 in the third-fourth place play-off and Coach Ellis' team finished 5-2.
However, the graduation of so many talented youngsters to the senior ranks left the squad seriously depleted in 2008 and GB found themselves without a win in six games and last out of the 10 participating countries. Coach Sergio Lara-Bercial saw his team led by Scotland's Rose Anderson whose 9.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game made her the pick of the GB roster.
