August will see all three of the Welsh Wheelchair Basketball Squads in action across two high profile competitions.
On August 1st and 2nd Wales U15’s and U19’s will travel to Worcester for the Lord’s Taverners National Junior Championships, where they will battle it out against Northern Ireland, Scotland and Regional Teams from England. Both teams will be looking to build on their performances from last year where they finished 6th and 7th in the competition.
On August 8th and 9th Wales U23’s will travel to Belfast, where they will face off against Northern Ireland and Scotland for the Celtic Cup. The team will be looking to go one better than their silver medal last year before the competition comes to Wales in 2016.
Wheelchair Basketball in Wales is supported by a service level agreement between Disability Sport Wales & British Wheelchair Basketball. This agreement allowed the appointment of National Development Officer Dan Bufton and the establishment of a Welsh Wheelchair Basketball Development programme.
In addition to the programme costs of the officer, Disability Sport Wales funds the player pathway opportunities, which funds the training & competition opportunities for the Under 15s, Under 19s & Under 23s programme. In addition kit, travel and accommodation costs are covered.
As the official partner of the Academy, General Dynamics United Kingdom are now the title sponsors of the Welsh representative teams.
Dan Bufton, Welsh Development Officer for British Wheelchair Basketball said: “The partnership between British Wheelchair Basketball and Disability Sport Wales has already seen significant progress made in the structure, delivery and promotion of the sport in Wales and there are more exciting plans to come this year. We are extremely grateful for the support from Disability Sport Wales and title sponsor General Dynamics United Kingdom. This support is allowing our teams to attend competitions and to prepare more effectively for them. We are already seeing significant development as a result”
Jon Morgan, Executive Director, Disability Sport Wales said: ‘We’re pleased to see the continued development of the sport of Wheelchair Basketball in Wales, with increasing numbers of clubs and participation opportunities. A clear pathway is now in place for players to develop through the age groups with a Under 15, Under 19 & Under 23 Welsh representative teams, which hopefully will see further Welsh players going on to represent GB. We wish the teams all the best at the Junior Nationals in Worcester.’
