| We are pleased to announce the Player of the Year for 2011:Playing in U18-Men team is Rowell Graham of Lewisham Thunder Basketball Club. This award is in recognition of an outstanding and consistent leadership, teamwork and application based on performances on court, off court, in training and in competition. Rowell was not in the starting five for the U18 Men, but still managed to rack up 8.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He was the team’s most efficient scorer shooting at 59.5%. He posted double figure points twice and was in the top 10 in the tournament in blocked shots. “Rowell is a physically talented athlete who has only been playing organised basketball for two years. He has progressed from street ball to international level through his determination and drive to become the best! He has shown leadership on the floor and was the best England player at the recent European Championship.” Steve Bucknall, England U18 Head Coach
The season’s start has been a tough one for the Lewisham Thunder Under 16’s Girls Team who have struggled to gather any sort of consistent rhythm over the first four games of their inaugural season. Very much in at the deep end, long term injury to players, academic responsibilities and an opening flurry of matches against some of the strongest teams in the league have weighed heavy of the girls. Despite this, their resilience and capacity to play with considerable spirit from the first to the last minute of every game, regardless of the score has provided some thrilling moments including the loss at home against Solent in the first Women’s National League game the club has ever played, by two points, in front of a noisy and massively appreciative home support was hugely uplifting. The players walked away wanting more. The following week’s away game to a very strong Haringey team was not what the doctor ordered! A second consecutive away game this time at Woking saw a better all around performance with all the players contributing at both ends of the floor. Definitely a step in the right direction. A home game against Southend brought the girls down with a thump as they struggled to compete against a well drilled Southend. The team’s coaches are very pleased with aspects of the team’s performance to date and know that there is far more to come as the player’s technical development continues and they become aware of the challenges of the game-time, on-court environment. This weekend the girls travel to fellow league newcomers and unknown quantity, Mole Valley Phoenix, keen to halt the run of losses and show what they are really capable of. The scores for the games played can be viewed here: With its national basketball federation celebrating its 90th anniversary, Italy hosted the Invitational 3×3 Youth World Championship in the city of Rimini.
The competition took place between 9 and 11 September for girls and boys simultaneously. A total of 40 teams – 16 girls and 24 boys. Again, Rowell Graham represented his country at this Inaugural Invitational 3×3 Youth World Championship. 2011 marks the first time this event was held. FIBA’s plans call on the 3×3 Youth World Championship to be held annually. England’s girls and boys finished 12th (out of 24) and 25th (out of 36) respectively at the recently completed FIBA 3×3 World Youth Championship in Rimini, Italy. England girl’s team impressed at FIBA 3×3 World ChampionshipThe girls’ result was particularly pleasing given that they were the youngest team in the whole tournament with all 4 members coming from the recently promoted U16 Women national team. The girls began with impressive victories over Greece and Canada, but two consecutive losses to Australia (one in group play, one in the last 16) knocked them out of contention. The boys only won two group games out of eight (against Nepal and Japan), although they did run eventual tournament champions New Zealand close.
A classification game loss to South Korea meant they could only finished as high as 25th, but they duly rattled off three consecutive victories to secure that position. Good games and regardless of the result it was fantastic experience. Well done!
U18 Men’s Basketball European Championship Division B Varna (BUL) 21 – 31 July 2011 With 2 players from Lewisham U18 squad Omari Coates & Rowell Graham who competed for a place at the 2011 U18 FIBA Basketball European Championship, Lewisham Thunder has gone from strength to strength. Rowell Graham was finally chosen as part of a 12 man squad. A late addition due to injury he is a physically gifted natural athlete who was consistently playing out of position. Only 6’4 in statue but Rowell plays like 6’10 and he is one for the future! Head Coach steven Bucknall says: Overall , the team stats were in our favour to win games and we did have comparable stats with the top 8 teams in rebounding , steals , allowed field goals , points allowed , free throws attempted which shows signs of hope especially at the defensive end. A priority must be learning to play under pressure and better Execution of 1 vs 1 move with limited dribbles and overall basketball IQ.
This is not news (found in New Shopper) any more because it happened few months ago but I think it is still valuable information and could be forgotten otherwise. This is why I posted it here to remember about the winning! The U13 boys team took 2nd place in the finals in Stoke Mandeville Stadium, Aylesbury on 2nd April 2011.
This IS great achievement! My congratulations! LEWISHAM Thunders U13s basketball team will compete at the final fours in the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, in Aylesbury early next month.They booked their place after winning every game in the league this season and will now take on Manchester Magic, Ipswich Tomcats and Notts Nova Centurions in the race to win the title of national champions. Captain Jason Witter has led by example this season, showing consistency, superb skill and determination. Lewisham Thunders has four players who have already been selected onto the England U15 player development pathway, Jason Witter, Rayon Brown, Andrew Trunca and Jennelle Grant. Witter has also been selected …
Please, check the locations dates and time on the ‘Holiday Camps‘ page. We still missing schedules for National League but those should be added very soon.
Any questions, please ask your coach 
Woohoo! We have a new admin!The website is going to be upgraded and updated. Lots of changes and new exciting stuff is coming on. We all should benefit from those updates, assuming someone will write posts | |
