Southbury Leisure Centre is taking part in an NBA-funded scheme to encourage children aged from five to 15 to take up the sport

Young people in Enfield are being offered coached basketball sessions at Southbury Leisure Centre for just £1 thanks to the NBA.

The ‘NBA Court Time’ initiative is the result of a partnership between leisure centres operator GLL/Better, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and London Coaches Programme.

It aims to make basketball more accessible, keep Londoners active and create safe indoor opportunities for young people to build new skills and connections.

Sessions will be delivered by trained basketball coaches and be suitable for all abilities. Participants aged from five to 15 do not need to bring anything except their trainers.

Enfield is one of six participating London boroughs, with Better’s Southbury Leisure Centre hosting the sessions in collaboration with the London Coaches Programme. Adult participants, community groups and women-only sessions will be offered from March.

Petrit Krasniqi, Better’s regional sports hub manager, said: “In Enfield, we’re committed to supporting young people to access affordable sporting activities. That’s why we’re so pleased to be working with the Mayor of London and the NBA to offer this opportunity.

“We’re excited for how the programme will help grow our existing junior basketball programme.”

Some £2million is being invested by City Hall to improve basketball facilities across the capital and create more opportunities for young people to get involved in the sport, which already hugely popular in the USA and rapidly picking up a fan following in the UK.

The plans also include a further £1m investment into the London Coaches Programme, a partnership funded by the mayor and the NBA and delivered by Basketball England.

Basketball sits behind only football as the second-most popular team sport for young people in England, with over one million playing on a weekly basis. Its diverse reach has seen NBA fandom among UK adults grow by 24% in the last three years alone.

London is home to more than 500,000 active basketball players across community, club, and school programmes.

Find out more and get involved:
Visit better.org.uk/what-we-offer/activities/basketball#nba.

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