About Us
GB MAXIBASKETBALL PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME
Who We Are
GB Maxibasketball is a high quality national teams programme for male and female players aged 35+ to 60+ years of age. It is part of the Basketball England Talent Pathway.
The programme was originally established towards the end of the 2017/18 basketball season to encourage former high level players back into basketball, and to provide the opportunity for some of these players to ultimately represent their country on the international stage.
The GB Maxibasketball programme produced the first ever British basketball teams to compete on a World Maxibasketball stage. Two female teams travelled to Espoo, Helsinki – Finland’s capital city – to compete in the 15th FIMBA World Maxibasketball Championships 2019. They represented Great Britain in the 40+ and 50+ competition categories, with their 50+ team achieving a world championship 4th place medal. Nicknamed ‘GB Maxis’, their success had led to the expansion of the performance element of the programme during 2020 and we now organise male and female teams to compete in internationally recognised World and European maxibasketball championships.
In December 2020, the GB Maxibasketball programme was recognised by Basketball England for its excellence in providing a performance environment for teams operating at high level, when it was included in the Basketball England Talent Pathway for elite players. The ‘Talent Pathway’ contains four tiers of progression and showcases the various stages of development for basketball players from the age of 11 through to senior GB representation. For the first time ever, the pathway has been extended to include GB representation at maxibasketball level, and working with Basketball England, Basketball Scotland and Basketball Wales, GB Maxibasketball delivered the first ever Tri-Nations 35+ Masters event at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester in June 2024.
The key basketball organisations in the UK and globally are depicted in the graphic, and shows how and where GB Maxibasketball fits within the national basketball eco-system.
On the domestic front, we know that a good number of older players stop playing in local leagues because they no longer wish to compete against players that are half-their age and twice their speed! So, we are committed to supporting the promotion of local opportunities that we become aware of. Â
We are aware that social masters basketball groups already exist, but there is also a huge untapped demand in many areas. So if your community group or club is running masters basketball sessions, let us know and we will help signpost players accordingly.
