Wales Commits It’s Future To Being Part Of British Basketball

Since its formation in 2006 to enable Great Britain teams to compete in FIBA and FIBA Europe international competitions, British Basketball has delivered significant progress on the court as evidenced by an unprecedented six appearances in European Championship finals by the GB men and women, first time appearances in A Division, medals at age group levels and our significant climb in world rankings during that time.  Our new vision is to build on this progress and win medals at major championships within ten years. To achieve this, British Basketball teams will need to consistently compete at the world class level through the continuous growth and improvement of all aspects of basketball across all three Home Nations.

Over the past 12 months, with the full support of the world governing body FIBA, the basketball associations of Wales, Scotland and England have been working together to create a sustainable governance structure in which Great Britain teams can flourish and all three nations can work together towards delivering this shared vision for British Basketball. With the Basketball Wales decision to commit to this new structure, all the pieces are now in place for British Basketball to move forward as one.

In order to achieve this we are implementing a new, simplified governance structure and recruiting a new British Board of Directors with a diverse mix of business and sporting expertise to make basketball sustainable in Britain and fulfill its potential. This new Board will work in collaboration with all three Home Nations, who will continue to develop the sport in their territories in line with a shared British strategy. The new Board will have its performance evaluated annually to ensure its accountability and effectiveness. With Wales now fully committed, it is our aim to implement the new structure by the end of 2014 to maintain progress to single FIBA membership in 2016.

Over the next few months, British Basketball will be seeking to recruit a new Independent Chair and three new Independent Directors who can contribute to the strategic direction of the sport. These posts will be recruited by an open application process.

British Basketball is excited to be launching its new goals and determined to deliver an inspirational and sustainable delivery plan for basketball in Britain which will lead the sport into its next stage of development.