We realised there's been a LOT of changes at the club over these past few weeks... so we shared this with our members to update anyone who hasn't seen everything that's been going on.
If you're looking to be a part of our club for this coming season, please make sure you read this!
Firstly, can we ask everyone who is in any way involved in the club to PLEASE follow us on social media (we’re @BuryBasketball on facebook, Instagram and twitter). We are incredibly active online, and share information about our club to these sites on a regular basis – it really is the best way to stay up-to-date with us, and it also helps the club… as the bigger our social media profile, the more attractive we are to potential players, volunteers and sponsors.
Teamo
We’ve had a few emails asking where Teamo’s gone.
Teamo was deleted for the overwhelming majority of club members prior to our AGM earlier this month – as we were given a very short deadline to reduce the number of active members to <50 (we were more than double that size), or start paying to use the service.
We’d been given feedback that the app grew very glitchy as the season wore on, which we believe had something to do with the large size of the club database and number of inactive users clogging it up.
We have been seeking volunteer team managers to assist with the management of every session/team at the club, and to-date have Team Managers for every side – except the Sunday Junior Development session, and the Senior Local League programme. The team manager role is primarily to handle the administration of the team, such as assisting in the collection of fees and communication between the club and players/parents. Details of the roles are available here. It really is vital that we have volunteers coming forwards to assist us in these roles.
We have also created a club calendar with every event ongoing at the club available for the members to see.
Return To Training/Competitions Update
With our move into the National League for the season ahead, we have re-shaped the club training structure a little, and the competitions in which we participate.
The Junior Development session will now be Sundays at Skyliner 4-6pm, and open to players in school years 5-9. This session will feed into a team entering the Norfolk Youth Basketball League in the U13 age group, and in addition to this, we intend to invite teams to play in friendly games against us (either in our normal training slot, or on Saturday afternoons before the National League Seniors).
For members of the Junior Development session heading into school years 10/11, there is the NBL training session on Monday nights at Skyliner, 6-8pm. This session feeds into three teams for the club… The U16 National League side competing in the Region 4 Division, an U15’s side in the NYBL and an U18’s side in the NYBL.
Members of the Sunday Development session may be invited to attend the Monday training sessions to support their development and allow them to compete for spots in the U15’s team. The U18’s side will feature the eldest players in the U16’s age group, along with eligible members of the senior local league squad.
Our Local League Seniors will compete in the Second Division of both the Suffolk Senior League and the Cambridge League, with training (and Home Fixtures) taking place Sundays at Skyliner 6-8pm. Additional training for this side will be on Wednesdays at Culford School, 8-10pm and has been promoted as an “Open Run”, allowing us to welcome casual players and members of our popular “Get Back Into Basketball” sessions along to bolster numbers.
The Local League Seniors will be open to any players aged 16+ from 1st September this year.
We have also started a Girls and Women’s session, on Fridays at Thurston, with girls in School Years 5-10 training 6:00 – 7:30 and players aged 16+ from 7:30-9:00.
Below is a guide of when each of our training sessions are, the date they commence (if they have not already done so) and who the coaches are:
- Junior Development: Led by Coach Rob Fisher. Sundays (excl. Bank Holidays) from 11th August at Skyliner. 4-6pm.
- Senior Local League: Led by Coaches Glenn Collins & David Wise. Sundays (excl. Bank Holidays/Fixtures) from 11th August at Skyliner. 6-8pm. Wednesdays from 7th August at Culford. 8-10pm.
- U16 NBL Juniors: Led by Coach Seb Benford. Mondays (excl. Bank Holidays) at Skyliner from 5th August. 6-8pm.
- Senior NBL: Led by Coach Arron MacDonald. Tuesdays at Skyliner (through August), then Culford (from September), 8-10pm.
- U15 Girls: Led by Coach Jo Brawn. Fridays at Thurston from 6th September. 6-7:30pm.
- Women: Fridays at Thurston from 6th September. 7:30-9pm.
- Get Back Into Basketball: Led by Coach Sam Howard. Tuesdays at Thurston, 8-10pm.
Costs
Our committee makes every effort to keep costs as low as is practical for everyone, every year.
This season, we have had to increase costs a little across the club, and wanted to detail why…
Last season, following numerous complaints about the standard and safety of the facility from playing members, parents, referees and opposition, we made the decision to move away from the venue for Junior training and all fixtures, and we now have (arguably) the best home facility in the county in Skyliner. Whilst Skyliner is very competitively priced, it is more expensive than County Upper was.
Subsequently, our move into the National League has meant that we’ve had to sever all ties with County Upper School, and no longer use that facility.
This means that our facility costs have increased year-on-year, and whilst this has been going on, we’ve also re-shaped our club to try and offer more focused coaching and competition in age-appropriate groups, and we’re trying to ensure that every group is financially self-sufficient.
The upshot is that the training fees have increased for some of our members this year – but we believe that we’re offering more competitive opportunities and more focused coaching for our players in exchange for this, and believe we’re still offering good value for money.
Details of the costs for your team can be found in the relevant membership form for the season.
We are presently working on a concessions policy at the club, and if you feel that you may require some assistance in meeting these costs, please contact us via email and we will discuss further.
A Club Fundraiser – To Reduce Your Fees!
On Saturday 7th September, we’re running a basketball marathon across our club…
It is open to EVERY member, and between us we’re going to pass and dribble more than 50 miles and score over 5000 points.
This is a sponsored event, and we want EVERYONE from the club to participate. We’re asking that everyone raises at least £20.00 in sponsorship to take part – but we’ve tried to give an incentive for everyone to raise more than that… As half of whatever each member raises over the £20.00 buy-in will come off their season’s fees!
Additionally, we’ll be giving prizes from the club for the players who raise the most in sponsorship and give the best effort on the day.
The sponsorship form can be found at the bottom of the policies page on the club website, and again, we’d encourage EVERYONE looking to play this season to take part!
Signing-Up has Changed
Basketball England have changed their sign-up process for the season ahead.
It is no longer club-driven (ie: we cannot register you), it is member-driven (so players/parents have to register themselves). The portal opens and accepts membership from 30th July, and whilst members are welcome to try and register themselves from this time, we’ve created a Sign-Up Day event at the Moreton Hall Community Centre on 11th August.
We’ll have club personnel on-hand from 3pm-8pm in the Committee Room at the MHCC to support members in signing-up. Follow the link above and book a slot… and we’d also ask please bring your own laptop (if you have one) to help with this!
If you are looking to sign-up on your own, please make sure that you check the option for the club to pay for it!
Wrapping-Up
Before we go, there’s a few shorter pieces of information to draw your attention to:
- Our new committee is now in-place. As previously mentioned, we’re always looking for volunteers, especially Team Managers and for Fundraising/Events. If you can help, please get in touch.
- We’ve been really fortunate to bring a number of sponsors on-board for the season ahead (our sponsors are shown on the bottom of our website), but if you know of anyone else who may be interested in supporting our club, please let us know! Packages start from £250 for two seasons.
- Our NBL Senior side is rounding out nicely, and have provisionally accepted away friendlies at Essex Rebels and Ipswich – two very tough games. Our first home fixture is scheduled for 19th October at 3pm (or 13th October in the event of a National Cup win!), so please, put it in your diaries and come and support the side!
- Our club shop is still running, and has plenty of stock in, and we’re still taking orders!
- Lastly, our summer camp is FINALLY here! Starting tomorrow at Skyliner and running through til Friday, 9-4 each day, open to 10-17 year-olds. We still have spaces left at £85/week or £20/day. If you’re interested, please drop us an email ASAP!
If anyone has any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us!
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