It's been a busy and successful couple of months for Ipswich Basketball Club.

 

First off they were awarded 5-Star Accreditation from England Basketball, one of only five clubs in the country to do so. This was announced at the club's End of Season Awards Dinner where over 200 players and their families attended the black tie event.

 

Then more recently it was announced that Copleston High School, where the club will move to next season, had received just under £23,000 of funding from the Inspired Facilities Lottery Funding pot.

 

Together with match funding put in by Copleston School themselves, this will enable a new sprung floor to be fitted and also provide the financial resources to move the court markings giving much better run-off.

 

The improved playing surface will be extremely valuable considering the amount of basketball activity happening at Ipswich Basketball Academy and the club in general. Forty community projects from across the East benefitted from almost £1.75 million.

 

Kathryn James, new Chair at the club said:

 

"I want to particularly thank the Head of Copleston High Shaun Common and Director of Sport Dave Leach. The school has match funded this award to enable this to happen. The vast majority of clubs just don't have this amount of capital spare to afford such improvements so building relationships with a school that share your passion for sport and in particular basketball to match fund such projects is hugely valuable and beneficial.

 

"We still don't feel that we are any further forward to securing a full-size double court with spectator seating, after the Building Schools for The Future was shelved before it ever arrived in Suffolk, but we are delighted with this much improved floor and smarter venue.

 

"I can't stress enough how having good relationships with your venue hosts, in our case a school, is actually worth its weight in gold. We also received some great local publicity yesterday, with the story making both the local BBC and ITV news, Suffolk Radio and Town 102FM. We have also featured in two local newspapers."

 

The next round of funding is now open with grants of up to £150,000 available for application between 23rd July and 17th September. Go to www.sportengland.org/inspired for more information.