2007 off to great start for Basketball Scotland

Friday 12 January 2007

basketballscotland are set for a "slam-dunking" New Year with the news that sportscotland are to invest £257,000 in the sport, an increase on last year's funding of over £19,000.

The investment, of which £57,500 is from the sportscotland Lottery fund, will go towards coaching, volunteering, organisational development, player improvement and medal success.

2006/7 is the official European Year of Women's Basketball and to capitilise on this basketballscotland recently launched their own year of women's basketball, unveiling a programme of activities throughout the country all with the aim of enhancing opportunities for women and girls to get involved in the sport.

basketballscotland recognise the need for greater equity in sport as well as the need for more women coaches and recently appointed Shirley Birch as their new National Coach. With the number of female coaches in basketball currently as high as 44 percent, Shirley's appointment also raises the percentage of women coaching basketball on a national level to 36.

basketballscotland has also set strong targets for 2007, particulary on the international stage, with the aim of raising the number of Scottish athletes in Great Britain squads at senior and under 20's level to at least 10 percent.

Announcing the funding, Julia Bracewell OBE Chair of sportscotland said: "I am delighted that sportscotland will invest £257,000 this year to support basketballscotland across it's range of activities.

"basketballscotland has embraced the Equity Standard scheme, already achieving the Foundation award and it is extremely encouraging to hear of the work they are undertaking to increase the numbers of women and girls playing and enjoying basketball."

Acknowledging the award, Kevin Pringle, Chief Executive of basketballscotland said: "basketballscotland is delighted to receive the continued support of sportscotland. I am confident that basketball can contribute to sportscotland's objectives of increasing participation and improving performance in sport.

"I am very excited about our Year of Women's Basketball and we hope our drive to encourage women and girls to take part in the sport at all levels will be a huge success."

Other sports receiving integrated funding today are Lacrosse Scotland (£11,000), Scottish Tug of War Association (£2,500) and Dancesport Scotland (£6,500).

• The £257,000 basketballscotland investment is made up of £57,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund and £200,000 from sportscotland Exchequer funding from the Scottish Executive.
• The £11,000 Lacrosse Scotland investment is from the sportscotland Lottery Fund.
• The £2,500 Scottish Tug of War Association investment is from the sportscotland Lottery Fund.
• The £6,500 Dancesport Scotland investment is made up of £2,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund and -£4,500 from sportscotland Exchequer funding from the Scottish Executive.