Whilst the world’s eyes are on London 2012, British Basketball continues to build towards 2016, a programme which is known as ‘T16’.  The aim of the programme is to have both the Great Britain men’s and women’s team qualify in their own right for the 2016 Olympics which will be hosted in Rio de Janeiro. 

Whilst not wanting to distract too much attention from their current objectives, Performance Director Chris Spice feels the time is right to increase efforts on the programme that plans to place GB in the top flight of basketball for years to come. 

“Many people think that our only priority is 2012, and whilst it is a key focus, the real challenge is for British Basketball to secure a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games.  We aim to maximise our London Olympic performances so that they lay the foundation for regular world and Olympic participation, increasing the profile of our sport, hosting major basketball events, and further develop the standard of our national leagues and development programmes.  We plan to be in high performance basketball for the long-term and this was a major consideration in our original pitch for funding from UK Sport.”

This year sees several new initiatives designed to develop elite players in line with the British Basketball high performance strategy, Game On.  The first of these will be a select Great Britain men’s futures team that will play in a four-nation tournament in France.   A primarily under-23 tournament for men, it is hoped that this will become a regular feature on the GB performance calendar. 

Spice has confirmed that the head coach of this team will be GB Standard Life men’s head coach Chris Finch.  “We have always thought that we need to continue to develop our male talent beyond the under-20 team so we have taken this opportunity to participate in this tournament with our neighbours from France, Belgium and Luxembourg.  To have Chris coach the team is an obvious added bonus and reflects the high priority we are placing on this team.”

Further elements of the programme will see the introduction of several new high-performance development camps across Britain – the under-20 combined camp for men and women in early June, two national team camps for boys and girls which will bring together for the first time the national team programmes of Britain and the home nations of England, Scotland and Wales. 

“The national team camps will provide not only a hot-house for player identification and development, but also they will provide a much needed boost for our aspiring national coaches all across Great Britain.  To have our GB under-20 squads working alongside the home nation under-18 and under-16 squads is truly exciting” continued Spice.

British Basketball has also been working very closely with their partners on the future use of the London Olympic handball stadium.

“Another key part of the Olympic legacy will be the use of the Olympic handball arena post-2012.  We have been working with our colleagues from England Basketball, the British Basketball League and the Olympic Legacy Company to ensure that we have a comprehensive plan that takes in our needs beyond 2012. 

“To have a national centre for our GB and England teams to prepare and compete post-2012 and a London based BBL team would be an unbelievable long-term legacy for basketball in the UK.  An incredible amount of work has already gone into this project and we are confident that basketball will be the major user of this magnificent facility” stated Spice.

Hosting major events also forms part of the T16 strategy, and British Basketball has just secured funding for a feasibility study into hosting a Eurobasket tournament in the next Olympic cycle, an opportunity Spice is excited about.

“If we are to become a regular player on the world and European stage then we must also look to stage major basketball events in the UK.  We have incredible facilities around the UK for such a tournament, some of which we already use for our home internationals - the O2 and Olympic arena’s in London, the Liverpool Echo Arena, the NIA in Birmingham and it would be great if we could take the game north of the border to Glasgow where a new indoor arena will be built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

“We are delighted that we have recently obtained the go-ahead to pursue the prospect of hosting a major basketball event in the UK within the next six years.  Personally, I would love to bring the Eurobasket 2015 tournament to the UK – another great example of a London 2012 Olympic legacy.  There is much work to be done before we get to bidding for any major tournament, but our partners at UK Sport are assisting us with preparing the ground via a feasibility study which we hope to complete this year.”

Spice is keen to point out that T16 is also about quality personnel, not just the physical programmes.  Last summer saw England Basketball and British Basketball appoint Warwick Cann as their Performance Pathway Co-ordinator whose job it is to bring the T16 high performance strategy to life. 

“The activity on the ground since Warwick’s appointment has been incredible. England and British Basketball are working together to develop talent in new and exciting ways.  Warwick chairs the Performance Management Group that provides strategic direction and coordination for UK’s high performance programmes and is responsible for the roll out of basketball’s regional institutes.  Our first regional institute pilot at Barking Abbey has just been reviewed after six months and working with our home nation partners these will spread across Great Britain in the coming years.

“With a focus on technical development as well as appropriate competition, these talent centres will lay the foundations of future GB Olympic basketball stars.  We also plan to work with existing structures like the BBL and the EBL clubs so we are not reinventing the wheel.  All of these regional programmes will work to our new national development plan under Warwick’s watchful eye.”

British Basketball also plans further participation in the World University Games after an incredible 6^th place finish for the GB women in 2009.  Spice commented; “No-one gave us much of a chance of progressing out of our group at last year’s tournament, but to beat major basketball nations such as France and host nation Serbia, and finish in the top six of the 16 team tournament was truly special.  Some of the experience gained by those players will be invaluable not only for the London Olympics but for our 2016 plans as well.”

Although Spice is well aware of the challenges ahead, he is in no doubt that it is going to be an exciting time for the sport. “T16 enables us to pull together the Great Britain and home nation elite development basketball programmes like never before.  Our work has just begun but already signs of improvement are there for all to see.  We have no illusions about the hill we are about to climb but we have everyone pulling in the same direction and committed to the 2016 cause.  It is indeed a very exciting time to be involved with basketball in Great Britain”