Hoopsfix Podcast - British Basketball with Sam Neter

For Episode 43 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sat down with former BBL Head Coach and co-founder of the now-defunct Basketball Coaches Association, Mark Dunning.

Dunning coached in the BBL with Bracknell, London Towers, Hemel Hempstead and Brighton Bears, along with time at Crystal Palace, Brunel Uxbridge and Brixton prior to the BBL coming into existence.

Having been at the forefront of coach development in the UK, Dunning served as President and Secretary of the Basketball Coaches Association (BCAUK), running/attending countless clinics and events, and authoring coaching books and documents.

In this two hour episode, hear from Mark on:

• How he first got into basketball, reflecting on his early playing days at school
• Making the switch into wanting to become a coach
• Why he always wanted to be a professional Senior coach, as opposed to working with juniors
• His memories of the league and player from the NBL in the late 70s and early 80s
• London being a hotbed of junior talent with the likes of Crystal Palace, East London Royals, North London, Clissold Park School and Avenue producing players
• Michael Jordan’s visit to Brixton in 1985
• The legendary Philips WICB Championship that used to take place at Crystal Palace
• The importance of coaches having to pay their dues before getting a head coaching gig
• Building a network of coaches both in the UK and overseas
• Learning how to become a better coach before the internet
• The founding of the BCA UK and why it was set up
• Why he is currently not involved with basketball at a high level
• What he would make his priorities if he was in charge of improving coaching in the UK
• His fatigue with what he feels are the federations producing documents and strategies without any action
• Trying to help the federations but getting little response
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post Improving Basketball Coaching in the UK – With Mark Dunning – Ep. 43 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

For Episode 42 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Jackson Gibbons, the Director of Basketball at City of London Academy and Chairman of Southwark Pride.

A former player at Westminster Warriors and Brixton Topcats, Gibbons ended up in coaching, starting with the Westminster Warriors, where he had an undefeated season and won an Under-18 National title in 2010, before setting up the City of London Academy basketball programme – which is also a part of Southwark Pride programme – in 2012.

In what is a relatively short period of time, CoLA/Southwark has had a lot of success, winning a number of National titles (including the same group of girls winning the Under-18 Playoffs title, Under-18 Cup, WEABL, Division 1 Women Playoffs, and Women’s National Cup in 2017) and placing numerous players in the USA on scholarship.

Perhaps more impressive than the team and individual success the club has had, is the culture and community that has been built around the programme.

In this 1 hour and 40 minute episode, hear from Jackson on:

• How he first got into basketball, after his first love was football
• Aspiring to play in the BBL as a youngster and the players he looked up to
• His memories of the legendary Rough & Ready tournament
• Partnering with Nhamo Shire on the operations side of Midnight Madness
• Setting up the City of London Academy programme
• How he spoke to Barking Abbey to get a blueprint of a basketball academy
• How he has built a basketball culture within the school and club
• Working with a school and getting the school on side
• The differences between coaching boys and girls
• His philosophies and values on coaching and mentoring young people
• Building a network of coaches in the US
• Supporting players to get scholarships to the states
• The importance of players going to the right place when going to the US
• Some of the individual success stories of players that he has coached
• Why he feels kids need to start playing younger
• His hopes for the future
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post How to Build a Basketball Culture – With Jackson Gibbons – Ep. 42 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

In Episode 41 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we got the chance to sit down with Great Britain star Azania Stewart ahead of the most recent qualifying window where Stewart gained her 100th cap as she has decided to step away from the game – which she revealed to us in this interview. The 29 year […]

For Episode 40 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with reigning British Basketball League (BBL) MVP, London Lions and GB guard Justin Robinson. Robinson is one of Jimmy Rogers’ protégés out of the heralded Brixton Topcats programme, and one of the greatest players of his generation. Having left the UK at 16 to attend […]

In Episode 39 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with former British Basketball Federation (BBF) Chairman, Ed Warner, in our brand new studio. Warner was at the helm of the BBF for seven weeks, before resigning along with six other independent directors, following a ‘hostile takeover’ of the BBF by the Home Country Associations, […]

It brings us great honour to mark the return of the Hoopsfix Podcast with a very special episode with Jimmy Rogers, that we are publishing posthumously following his passing last month after a six month battle with cancer. Rogers is one of the forefathers of the British game, helping found the Brixton Topcats in 1984 […]

For episode 37 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with the UK’s leading basketball journalist, Mark Woods. Woods has been covering the game for close to three decades, initially with one of the earliest sites covering British basketball, his very own Britball.com, along with becoming a regular contributor in a number of leading national […]

For Episode 36 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we got the chance to sit down with the Chief Operating Officer of the BBL, Andy Webb. Webb has been working for the BBL for over 23 years, having been involved in what many consider its ‘heyday’ in the 90’s, before the low point in the early 2000’s, […]

For episode 35 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with London Lions owner and CEO Vince Macaulay. Vince has been involved with British basketball since the ’70s when he started playing as a 16 year old. An aspiring filmmaker, there were no early signs that he would end up in club ownership, until he […]

For episode 34 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, Joe Forber (pictured above, centre), one of the founders of the Manchester Magic programme, took some time to sit down and talk about his story and career so far. Joe Forber, originally a teacher, got involved with hoops decades ago before helping found Manchester Magic in 1997. The […]