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GB Maxibasketball Performance Programme
Our ambition is to provide players with the platform to continue playing basketball and competing for Great Britain.
Who is our programme for? It is the official governing body national masters team programme. Therefore, it seeks to recruit high players and coaches, who generally experienced in former professional, national league (Division 1) or ex-international settings. However anyone is welcome to attend open sessions. Players and coaches must be registered with their national governing body for basketball in the UK, for insurance purposes.
What does the programme offer? We offer a year round programme of regular training opportunities for male and female elite players aged from 35+ years to 60+ of age, run by an experienced cohort of qualified coaches and supported by professional sports science and medicine personnel. Players within this programme will be working to improve their team skills as well as seeking individual selection to official GB squads, representing their country at international level.
Eight GB Maxibasketball teams competed in the  FIMBA 11th European Maxibasketball Championship 2022, in Malaga, with five of them securing European championship medals, including Gold for the GB Maxis 35+ Women and Silver for the GB Maxis 35+ Men.
In August 2023, five GB Maxibasketball teams travelled to Mar del Plata, in Argentina to compete in the World Maxibasketball Championship 2023 with three teams (W40+, M40+ & W50+) finishing in the top 10 nations in their age group. June 2024 saw ten GB Maxis’ teams travel to Pesaro, Italy for the European Maxibasketball Championship, and again, our 35+ teams made the podium, each bringing back silver medals. Twelve months later, seven GB Maxis teams competed in the World Maxibasketball Championship 2025 in Ticino, Switzerland, returning with two medals (one bronze, one plate) and four teams placing in the top 10 in the world.  Our national teams are expected to compete in FIBA competitions from season 2026/27 onwards, and will endeavour to seek out appropriate international competition for 35+ players.
Where are we based? The GB Maxibasketball performance programme is predominantly based in the City of Nottingham at the purpose built Nottingham Wildcats Basketball Arena.  In May 2024, the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester also hosted the first ever 35+ Masters Tri-Nations tournament for men and women, which ran alongside the U14 Tri-Nations event and was live streamed.  This event was coordinated by GB Maxis in conjunction with Basketball England, Basketball Scotland and Basketball Wales, with Scotland Men 35+ and England Women 35+ winning their respective competitions.
How often are the sessions? We usually run monthly open sessions from September through to December each year. Thereafter, GB teams are selected for continued training and preparation for either a European or World Championship competition the following year. At the moment, we are bringing together ten male and female teams to prepare for the European Maxibasketball Championship 2026 which will take place from 26 June to 5 July 2025 in Athens, Greece. Our Gb men 50+ team will represent Great Britain for the first time at the FIBA Masters Open from 4-12 July 2026, in Corinth & Loutraki, Greece.  Teams will enter select masters preparation events during 2026, at home and in Europe before departing for Greece in the summer.
Opportunities to play
There are local maxibasketball opportunities all around the UK. As we develop the site, we will feature any other opportunities to play that come to our attention, so keep checking in from time to time.
There are also a variety of well-established international club masters basketball tournaments, with integral social and tourism elements, in the UK and Europe are shown below (click on the images below for further information):
A full directory of masters basketball tournaments around the world can be found on the Masters Basketball Tournament website Overseas – https://www.mastersbasketballtournaments.com/
