The dust has settled on the NBA Finals and in previous years this would mean all of us hoops fans would have to wait until October when Kobe, LeBron et al begin their charge for next years title, however this year is different.
Forget England’s failure at the World Cup, it’s time to support Team-GB’s drive to London 2010! The absence of any star names in the GB squad, along with mixed results of late have caused basketball to fall off the radar in the UK. So much so that Sam Neter Sam Neter of the excellent UK Basketball coverage website Hoopsfix has unveiled his latest venture – Back British Basketball. BBB is a new website aimed at getting the home nations behind Team-GB’s bid for Olympic glory in 2012.
Check out Sam’s press release below, it’s going to be huge!
Basketball is one of the few sports in the Olympics where the home nation doesn’t get an automatic qualification. FIBA President Bob Elphinston in April 2010 announced that in order for Team GB to secure a place in the Olympics they would need to qualify for Eurobasket 2011, a campaign that begins with their scheduled games this coming August.
The campaign which includes online, some experiential marketing, merchandise and advertising will be seeded out across social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. The site will prompt people to show their support through purchasing branded T-Shirts, downloading banners, twibbons, website badges, desktop wallpapers and other merchandise. Fans will be able to submit photos, videos and comments fuelling the content on the site.
Sam Neter, Editor: Hoopsfix www.hoopsfix.com
‘The fact that Team GB has met and exceeded every goal FIBA has set out for them so far; yet they still don’t have a guaranteed place in 2012 is outrageous particularly given the fact that the UK is the host nation. As a committed fan I intend to drive this campaign and do everything in my power to get the nation on board and increase Team GB’s following ensuring their every chance of success in August’
The Great Britain basketball team were formed on December 1st, 2005 when the home nation’s respective governing bodies England Basketball, Basketball Scotland and Basketball Wales joined forces to field a competitive team for international competition after London secured the 2012 Olympics. In their first competitive campaign they got promoted from Division B to Division A allowing them to compete for a place at the European Championships (Eurobasket). They qualified for Eurobasket 2009 on their first attempt, but went 0-3 without their star player Luol Deng, pushing world champions Spain to the brink of defeat.
To start his campaign, Sam took to the streets of London as well as U23 competition in Lille and asked one main question: how much do you know about the current Great Britain basketball team?
For more information go to www.backbritishbasketball.com or contact Sam@hoopsfix.com or 07841591550
Words by John Harris (editor: upcoming online basketball magazine ‘24 Second Violation’)
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