Middlesbrough
Lions along with Teesside
Basketball League, Game Time &
Ravenwood Roofing provided a
superb basketball event for the
third annual Active
Middlesbrough Day. James
Thomson, Acho Anyigbo and Iffy
Nwokoro from the Lions were on
hand to deliver some basketball
fun to the hundreds of children
whilst also adding a few pieces
of advice. James Thomson
provided some tricks including
spinning the ball on his finger
and juggling three basketballs
before picking out children to
attempt the tricks! With not
many of the youngsters able to
produce the tricks, the
importance of practice was
encouraged. James Thomson added
"The events were 25mins long so
it was mainly about having some
fun with the kids and showing
them what a special and skilful
sport basketball is. The event
went very well and everyone had
fun, including us so hopefully
we reached a few people and
ignited a passion for
basketball."
Over 600 youngsters from 16
local primary schools enjoyed
the free event, organised by
Middlesbrough Sports
Development, with Jimmy Wattis
adding "The basketball was
a popular event last year and
has proven just as popular this
year"
The aim of Active Middlesbrough
Day was to get youngsters from
the Middlesbrough area trying
different sports and to promote
a healthy lifestyle.
Middlesbrough Council’s
executive councillor for public
health and sport Barbara
Thompson said: “This is a really
spectacular event and a great
way to launch our Festival of
Sport which includes the Sports
Mela, Middlesbrough Tees Pride
10k and 3k Fun Run and
Middlesbrough Mile."
“I hope Active Middlesbrough Day
will inspire some of our young
people to take up sport - I know
that all of them will have had a
day of fun and exercise.”
Councillor
Thompson is a keen advocate of
sport and the enormous benefits
it brings to people of all ages
and all social backgrounds.
Regarding basketball in
particular, she paid praise to
the work of Middlesbrough Lions
in the community and added
basketball in the area is at a
very healthy stage and the
council will be looking to
further develop the sport in
co-operation with groups such as
Middlesbrough Lions, Game Time
and Teesside Basketball League.
Councillor Thompson has been
impressed with the work of Game
Time, having also attended the
Presentation Evening in May
where she was a guest presenter
at the function with over 300
awards being presented for
basketball enthusiasts in the
area.
TBL Chairman; Wade Tovey was
again keen to be involved with
the event, helping to promote
the Teesside Basketball League.
"It is vital that we embrace the
community in a positive way so
we can attract more people into
the game." added Mr Tovey.
Special thanks to Ransome
Sporting Goods for providing the
baskets for the event.
