GB Maxibasketball 55+ Men and our GB 40+ Women have returned home with two European Maxibasketball Championship bronze medals, the first British teams to do so in their age category having faced some stiff competition in Athens over the past 10 days.
Led by Scotland’s Alasdair Sinclair, the GB 55+ Men’s run to the bronze medal is shown below, with top performances from Manchester’s Noel Power, plus London based duo Andrew Bailey and Keith Pringle. Andrew Bailey was named GB Maxis Top Male Performer for the tournament.
Coach Anita Curtis (Northampton) led her 10-strong team with assured calm and determination, raising their spirits after a semi-final loss to Germany. They stormed back to take the W over Poland in an edge of the seat bronze medal match at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Top performances came from Rehana Khalil, Sarah Wagstaff and Vilma Jurgaityte. Manchester’s Rehana Khalil was named our Top Female Performer of the tournament.
Reflecting on the tournament Programme Director, Sadie Mason MBE DL DSc (h.c) said:
“I am delighted for all our players and staff, and especially for those teams that medaled. From it’s inception in 2017/18, GB Maxibasketball has grown from two female teams competing at the World Championship in Finland to become an NGB recognised national performance programme of eleven male and female teams. It’s truly amazing and I couldn’t have envisaged it.
Supported by qualified sports science personnel in training and in competition, the programme results continue to show incremental progress with squads consistently moving up the European masters rankings. Of the 10 teams in Athens, nine reached the quarter final stages of the competition, with two of those finishing just outside the medal positions in 5th place. The work of all our programme staff in supporting our players has been truly outstanding, and I sincerely thank and pay tribute to them all”
The final European championship placings for our teams were as follows:
F40 – bronze medalists
M55 – bronze medalists
F45 – 5th place
F55 – 5th place
F35 – 6th place
M40 – 6th place
M45 – 6th place
M35 – 7th place
M60 – 8th place
F50 – 9th place
Overall a fantastic tournament for the GB Maxis national programme. End of tournament awards were presented at OAKA, with the following individuals recognised:
Top Performer (female): Rehana Khalil, F40+
Top Performer (male): Andrew Bailey, M55+
International growth (female): Dawn Hall, F45+
International growth (male): Stephen White, M40+
Keith Kelly Award – Spirit of GB Maxis (female): Michelle Tattersall, F40+
Keith Kelly Award – Spirit of GB Maxis (male): Noel Power, M55+
Keith Kelly Award – Spirit of GB Maxis (staff): James Smalley, Team Manager F45 & F50+
The international activity continues for GB Maxis this week with their GB M50+ team, who are the first and only British team to compete in the FIBA Masters Open 2026 in Corinth-Loutraki, Greece. The event was opened on 4th July by FIBA Europe President, Jorge Garbojosa at the stunning Xylokastro Marina, welcoming around 90 teams from around the world to the games.
GB Maxis have been drawn in Group B against Italy, Mongolia and Serbia. Featuring ex-pro players such as Damon Cooper, Matt Cunningham and Matt Williams Great Britain’s secured their first win of the event defeating Mongolia 81-66 in Kiato. They faced Serbia yesterday, who proved too strong defeating our team by 39 points. The GB 50s will face Italy on Tuesday 7th July in a must win game to progress to the top half of the next round.