Words could not really explain how proud I am of this group of young hoopers in our first ever European Tournament.

The U16 boys came together and made history. The first club level team from the UK to ever make it to the finals in the X-Mas Tournament in Belgium. Placing 2nd for Silver above some of the very best club teams in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Germany and beyond.

In many ways we were at a huge disadvantage having only practiced together once per month, and even then some of the players had only met for the first time on the minibus to travel out there.

The U14 boys with far less experience than the U16’s put themselves in the runners up final too. Losing their first game to the tournament bronze medalist, they then went on to win 3 games back to back.

I rewind back to September 2023 and Gators Basketball started out with just myself, Coach Stephane and a handful of players at one session once per week on a Saturday afternoon at The Gateway Academy in Tilbury.

Today we are developing some of the best players in the area and with the addition of Coach Aks we are also attracting elite talent from London and the surrounding counties to compete in high level International Tournaments that feature some of the best clubs, academies and players in Europe.