Local basketball looking to carry Games momentum into new season
New top-flight teams and some big spectator games on weekends are all part of the programme for the upcoming basketball season.
Ahead of a 4 October start date, newly-appointed Guernsey Basketball Association president Emma Webb has welcomed several changes for her first season in the role.
This includes an entirely new team coming in to bolster the numbers of Men’s Division One.
V1 Pistons provide a fourth name in the title chase, which has in recent years been a three-horse race between Skipton, Edmundson Electrical Chargers (previously Mayside) and Le Mont Saint.
They have been designed to be competitive with the top three and will have all-time great Jason Hooper in their line-up, together with Island coach Adam Farish at the helm.
This comes along a general re-draft and the integration of more talented youngsters into Division One.
‘We are trying to spread the talent across the division,’ Webb said.
‘Hopefully that will lead to a really competitive Division One season.’
In the Women’s Division, from which Webb has recently retired from playing, change is also afoot.
New outfit Oracle Diamonds will form an alternative to the disbanded LMS Storm.
They feature a mix of last season’s Storm players, newcomers and other experienced heads, including Verona Tomlin and Lorna Brown making their comebacks to the local game as part of the team.
Webb is hopeful the new team can compete and that the season will be just as competitive as the last.
‘There will be a little bit of movement and players stepping down, or moving teams, but I think it will be really competitive,’ she said.
‘Because they are a new team, all the others are like, “Ooh, this new team...”.
‘It will be interesting to see how close they are. I think there’s some fear.’
The buzz of top-flight competition will now also be available to spectators on certain Saturday afternoons this season.
The aim is to draw crowds to some of these important matches, continuing the momentum from a superbly-supported Island Games in July.
Eight such games are penned in between November and January.
‘People really enjoyed coming to watch basketball,’ Webb added.
‘We have got some Saturday slots for Division One and women’s games for people to come and watch, to try and maintain that level of interest in playing basketball.’
Diamonds will feature in the first major top-flight match of the new season, getting their maiden test against champions Ravenscroft on 6 October.
