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 55+ 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 female 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 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 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. Basketball Scotland, Basketball Wales and Basketball Northern Ireland also support the inclusion of its players in this GB programme.
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 have partnered with Basketball England to support them with the activating the ‘masters’ element of their strategic plan for the game Growing Basketball Together 2018-2024, by ensuring an inclusive approach to basketball for older participants. We are aware that social masters basketball groups already exist, but there is also a huge untapped demand in many areas. The GB Maxis programme has helped to significantly raise the profile of masters basketball in the UK, and regular promotion has already motivated individuals to return to the game, and has been the catalyst for existing organisations to develop further opportunities at community level.
