Bury St Edmunds Basketball Club will look to compete in the National Basketball League for the 2019/20 season - with the aim of entering three teams into the national competitions.
The club committee have discussed the move on occasion this season, and have come to the decision that it’s the right time for the Suffolk side to make the jump to the next level.
“We know that this is a challenging move, but it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to,” said head coach Arron MacDonald.
“We’ve got some young players around the club with fantastic potential and a strong infrastructure of volunteers and coaches. We also believe that Skyliner (Sports Centre, the club’s home venue) is tailor-made for this level of competition.”
The club have contacted Basketball England and filed an expression of interest to compete in the NBL, allowing the club to move forwards with trials for the new teams at the club.
However, in order to move forwards with the application, the club have to gauge whether they have an appropriate number of committed players across the teams to proceed, and so have announced a trials day at Skyliner on Sunday May 26.
The Bulldogs will be looking to enter teams into the Junior Boys and Girls leagues, as well as a team into the NBL Division 4 Men – with MacDonald set to lead the Senior side, and further coaching appointments to be announced in due course.
“I’m grateful that our committee have pushed ahead with this, and that I have this opportunity.” said MacDonald.
“Having previously coached in the NBL with Ipswich across their Junior and Senior teams, I’m aware of just how tough this standard of play is - but we’ve always been able to draw players from not only Bury, but a little further afield - and so I’m looking for committed, talented, experienced and motivated players to join our programme and help us to grow and compete.”
To register your interest in representing Bury in the National League, visit www.burybasketball.com/nbl.
- The Bulldogs are also offering sponsorship opportunities starting at £250 for two seasons, while there are also number of volunteer roles still available. If you are interested, e-mail bulldogsbasketball@hotmail.co.uk
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