The success of the Schools
season, especially the Finals
Event would be hard to top, but
Game Time promised an awards
ceremony to remember and with
over 200 people present at the
plush Thistle Hotel, the night
could hardly have gone better,
bringing down the curtain on a
very special season for
basketball enthusiasts across
the region.
The biggest turnout was from the
Schools League teams who have
experienced an unprecedented
season of basketball and media
coverage to provide recognition
of their achievements. In
particular Nunthorpe School
brought over 60 people, followed
by over 40 from Blakeston
School. Their respective Head
Coaches deservedly collecting
Coach of the Year awards for
their efforts off the court as
well as on.
The evening was compered by
James Thomson, head of Game Time
and the Schools League and in attendance were a number of
special guests from various
backgrounds to present awards,
including American professional;
Ralph Bucci, models/actresses;
Kirby & Fallon, R&B artist;
Principul, Gareth Rogers of
Redcar Bears speedway, Chairman
of TBL; Nigel Clack, Director of
PE
at Macmillan Academy; Oscar
Stanton and Manager of Eston
Sports Academy; Ian Donley.
The evening celebrated the
achievements of players from
Game Time, Lions basketball
club, Teesside Basketball League
& Tees Schools League and the
bar has now been set for other
schools to compete with the
basketball programmes and
support in place at Blakeston &
Nunthorpe. This is the
first year Nunthorpe have really
pushed basketball and their
efforts, especially those of
Head Coach; Darren Bunn have
been recognised and rewarded.
Blakeston School, led by Mike
Garthwaite, Tony Harrington and
a dedicated staff have teams in
years 7,8,9 & 10 as well as U16
Girls which is a great feat and
coupled with their efforts off
the court including quick
delivery of results & info and
great school display boards
earned them the Best
Basketball School Award. At the
other end of the spectrum,
Macmillan Academy were awarded
Most Improved School, having
only introduced their basketball
programme at the start of the
season, they fulfilled a healthy
number of games, submitted info
quickly but more importantly
developed their coaching
programme and with assistance
from Game Time have five
basketball sessions per week for
children of all ages.
In the TBL, Mark Finmore and
Norton Bulls collected Most
Valuable Player and Team of the
Season after winning Division 2
with only one league defeat all
season. Finmore averaged 29.6
points per game as he led the
Bulls to the league and CVL Cup
double.
For the full list of nominees
and winners, click
here.
Following the presentation was a
live show by R&B star; Principul
and his PSD crew member; Gizmo,
a Turkish break dancing
champion. Principul performed 4
songs and was accompanied by a
stunning performance from Gizmo
bringing the audience to a
rapturous applause as he
produced a breathtaking head
spin and whilst spinning took
off his shirt. Principul will be
releasing his new single soon
and will be available to
download on iTunes. For more
info on Principul and where you
can see PSD perform next visit
www.principulpsd.com
A special thank you to Aarlene
and the staff at the fantastic
venue of Thistle Hotel in
Middlesbrough. Please view the
facilities of the plush hotel
via the link below.
