Preston Pride Basketball Club has come a long way over the past 5 years. With dedicated help from numerous parents and key people within Preston Sports Development, Pride has grown into one of the largest Basketball Clubs in the North West. Below gives a brief history on how we achieved this.
Preston Pride Basketball Club started at Penwortham Leisure centre in the 1990's, with an U16 team playing in National League each season. Preston Pride U16 team were runners up in the RAF Northern Conference in 2002/03 after a strong season with Coach Matt Newby.
In September 2003 due to unforeseen circumstances, Preston Pride Basketball Club was left with just 4 players and no coach. Hard work and determination by parents/coach Brad & Liz Walker, parent/secretary Christine Goley, Coach Colum Cronin and new Coach Joel Augustine meant the Club survived. The Club moved to a new home court at Tulketh in Preston and continued to grow. Their hard work was rewarded with Lottery funding which provided two new kits, balls, training bibs and an electronic scoreboard along with some funding from the RAF. The Club would not exist if it wasn't for the dedication and the support of these and other parents and coaches, as well as Kate Dixon at Preston Sports Development and Sara Abbiss the Regional Basketball Development officer. All were committed to providing opportunities in basketball for young people in Preston and the surrounding area.
In September 2005, Preston Pride Basketball Club moved to a newly built, state of the art sports centre in Preston – St. Augustine 's New Avenham Centre (SANAC). The Club joined an Open day which was very successful. SANAC, which is closely linked with Cardinal Newman College Basketball Academy , provides Preston Pride Basketball Club with excellent training and match-day facilities. Following the club's decision to move venues at the start of the 2005/06 season a series of positive developments were seen such as Sport England's ClubMark, Preston Sports Club of the Year 2007 and numerous other accreditations.
In September 2006 the club increased the age groups to include U12's & U18's, which gave the club a total of 5 sections including two National League teams in the U16's & U18's. In the same period Pride's management took a lead in the creation of the Lancashire Basketball Association; as monthly Central Venue Leagues were held at SANAC. This was a great success as the LBA was registered with England Basketball in 2007.
Pride received devastating news at the end of September 2006 as Michael Walker; one of the U18 players was tragically killed in a car crash. Michael was one of the former members of the club, a great player and influence to other players in the club. As a tribute to Michael, a dedicated web page; which keeps Michael in our memories, shows info on Michael and his charity "Hoops in Heaven".
In 2007 the Club has seen another growth in players. This has risen to over 150 members ranging from 8 to 18 year old and as a result training times will be changed for the 2007/8 season. Additionally, the senior section will start in August and this will be in the form of two teams. Both teams will be represented in the Manchester Basketball League.
Following the clubs success by winning the Preston Sports award 'Club of the Year', Pride were automatically nominated to represent Preston at the Lancashire Sports Awards 2007. On Friday 5th October 2007, they were recognised for the effort made over the past few years and as a result the club won the Lancashire Sports 'Community Club of the Year 2007'...
The 2007/8 season was one of the best seen for the club. The Junior sections took a clean sweep of the LBA CVL play-offs in the U14/U16 & U18 age groups. The U18's finished 3rd in the NW National League, the seniors finished 3rd in the Manchester league and came runners-up in the play-offs. However the U16's became NW Conf Champions and reached the quarter finals of the National cup.
The 2008/9 season was not as successful for the club however this was always seen as a development year. The club had great success in the Lancashire CVL, winning U14, U16 league and cup with U18 runners-up. All junior National league teams came mid-table and seniors finish in the top half of both Premier & Div 1 MABL leagues. The U16 team won Team performance of the Year at the Preston Sports awards and a new Ladies squad was created to enter the National League Div 2.
2009/10 season seen the U18's just miss out on the Conference title to liverpool and the U16's had a different season ending up 4th. The senior 1st team missed winning the MABL Premier by 1 point and the 2nd team; despite beating all teams ended up 7th in the league due to losing 6 games by 5-points or less.
ClubMark Accreditation –
In May 2006 the club were proud to receive the Sport England and England Basketball ClubMark accreditation. This accreditation has been in development since September 2005 and shows the club has achieved the high standards in equity, child protection, coaching standards, club structure and development. In 2010 the club maintained accreditation.
Achieving ClubMark accreditation was a great step in the right direction for the club as it set out the structure and foundations for success. With a number of dedicated parents and club officials training in key areas, Pride became a quality club to play the game of basketball. With the ClubMark accreditation under its belt, England basketball recognised the direction in which the organisation is heading, hence the club goes top of the list for funding.
Brad Walker & Mark Baker receiving the ClubMark Certificate:
