Leeds Force Basketball Foundation
5 Buckstone Way
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS17 5HE
Dear Club Members,
I would like to welcome you to Leeds Force and whether you are a returning member or someone new to the club we hope that you will enjoy
the 2015/16 season and the opportunities that we present.
The club has evolved considerably over the past few years and this year we have seen incredible growth and expansion in key areas, notably
community delivery, Central Venue League competition, the Allerton High Force Academy and the female aspects of the program. It has seen
us move closer to our aspiration of creating both a performance and development pathway for young people in the city of Leeds and the
county of Yorkshire. In terms of direction I rewrote our mission statement earlier this year to reflect our advancement and refine our vision
and aspirations.
“To become central to the advancement of Basketball on a local, regional and national level, with the aspiration of constructing a pathway
underpinned by a commitment to: Community, Collaboration, Development, Performance and Excellence.”
M. Newby LFBF Director January 2015
We also have seen transition in terms of our brand from Leeds Carnegie to Leeds Force and 12 months on I can genuinely say we have
established ourselves and the name within the local regional and national fraternity as well as garnering interest from further afield.
Successes have included the expansion of the Leeds Force Academy based at Allerton High School in North Leeds which in 2015-16 will see the
best youth players in the program access the pinnacle of our youth performance player pathway whilst receiving an excellent post 16
education and the opportunity to access the NGB endorsed AASE program. At Allerton the players receive 12 Hours training per week as well
as Strength and Conditioning, Physiotherapy and Sports Psychology support. This summer they will travel to Red Star Belgrade in Serbia to
train and play, accessing an excellent training environment whilst playing against U18’s national teams from Denmark, Switzerland and
Romania. We hope to develop partnerships with multiple international groups and organisations to broaden the horizons of the young Men
and Women in our program.
We have also seen strong gains in the community having been endorsed by the Basketball Foundation to deliver the BBL Hub club initiative
which will see us foster the growth and nurture the development of 12 new community clubs in the region over the next three years. The
model that we proposed has been well received by both Sport England and the Basketball Foundation management.
There has been a surge in the uptake of the game from girls over the city and region testimony to the drive and determination of the
foundation staff and women’s basketball activists in the area we have seen record growth at U12s, U14s and U16s.
The sports arena is alive every weekend attracting new players in to our development sessions “Bounce” and “New Heights” these are
followed by weekly central venue competitions which are providing boys and girls of all ages from across the region the opportunity to
compete in a fun and exciting environment. This is testimony to the hard work and dedication of Mark Gunn our full time club & community
development manager.
We have had multiple successes at a regional and national team level with call ups for Daniel Evans England U18’s, Micah Savery- Richards
England U16’s plus Lucy Bentall and Baleigh Hood GB Horizons U17’s and we are now consistently fielding players in all age groups
representing Yorkshire. I would like to thank all our coaches and support staff for their commitment diligence and hard work this season the
evidence suggests we are on the right track in terms of player development.
In terms of infrastructure we have appointed Tamas Okros as our Performance Pathway Manager for the Boys program over the next fortnight
I hope to have appointed a coach who will fulfil the same remit for our girls program. These two new staff members will work across the
pathway to develop key areas such as coaching, technical and tactical curriculum and the performance environment. Additionally we have
been working hard on our website, administrative process and amending our core documents including “Codes of Conduct”. With a view to
provide clear channels of communication to all members and professionalise more aspects of our service.
What Next…? With so much success and growth the club will be aiming to recruit more paid and voluntary assistance. We are looking for
parents and friends of the program to engage with aspects of the program and lend their skills to our expansion. There are a number of key
areas where we require expertise; these include Sponsorship, Fund Raising, Administration, Finance and Legal. We are also looking for team
secretaries and team managers for our Junior National League teams as well as people interested in qualifying as table officials and referees
we can provide the training and resources so you can contribute in other ways. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you can help us drive this
flourishing program further forward.
Future aspirations include working with the local authority and local businesses over the next 3 years to secure a plot of land and build our
own venue to become the home of Leeds Force.
Kind regards,
Matt Newby
FB ’Leeds Force Foundation’
www.leedsforcebasketballfoundation.org