Aberystwyth Basketball Club has been awarded the insport Club of the Month accolade due to its proactive approach to the insport process and for recently achieving the insport Silver award.
Aberystwyth Basketball Club has been established for 25 years and has a membership of around 150 participants. It has 4 individual sections enabling people of all ages and abilities to participate – Running Basketball, Women & Girls Basketball, Wheelchair Basketball and Walking Basketball. The club holds 11 weekly sessions, ranging from under 5s to over 50s and for all abilities. The club’s slogan is BALL 4 ALL and has an ‘open door’ policy with an ethos of ‘anyone can play’.
Helen Pearce Secretary for Aberystwyth Basketball Club said “we already had many of the insport policies and procedures in place prior to starting the process, so we quickly achieved the Ribbon and Bronze awards. For our club it was about gaining recognition for the work already being done and being able to gain the recognised accreditation. Continuing our journey towards the Silver award now enables us to ensure we continues to develop and eventually achieve the Gold accreditation”
“The insport process has given us the opportunity to take a fresh look at what we are doing and what we want to achieve in the future to maintain and improve our inclusive approach. As a result of this we are looking at ways we can improve, such as our communication with members through a new Welcome Pack, social media content and a new website section. We have started a Club Ambassador Programme where our young members can gain experience in coaching, officiating and volunteering whilst being supported by a mentor. We have new club sessions running each week such as a session for adults with learning disabilities and a family wheelchair basketball session”
When asked what advice they would give other clubs going through insport Head Coach Lee Coulson said: “Concentrate on what people can do rather than what they cannot do. We endeavour to build relationships with each of our members in order to ensure we adapt the activity to suit their abilities”.
Disability Sport Wales (DSW) Development officer for Ceredigion Gemma Cutter said “Aberystwyth Basketball Club is an example of a truly inclusive club providing a meaningful experience to everybody. When I signpost people to the club I know that they will be genuinely included in activities. I am over the moon that the club have recently achieved Silver insport Club accreditation and insport Club of the Month by DSW for recognition of their commitment to inclusion. The club is also well on the way to displaying the thoroughly deserved insport Club Gold award - Llongyfarchiadau a diolch am eich gwaith caled yng Ngheredigion”.
DSW Partnership Manager Michelle Daltry Said “Congratulations to Aberystwyth Basketball Club on winning the October 2016 insport Club of the Month Award, this club is a clear example of what inclusive sport should look like and is truly deserving of the award. Congratulations to all involved.”
Now Aberystwyth Basketball club are working towards achieving insport Gold before the end of the year. Good luck to the club and congratulations on receiving insport Silver, all their work on inclusive sport provision and their achievements to date.
