Successful camp held for Under 16 squad in Newcastle

Last month it wasn’t just the Great Britain Senior Men’s team that made the journey to Newcastle for the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 qualifier, as coaches and players from the Men’s Under 16 team were also in attendance.

Seventeen Under 16s players gathered in Newcastle for a three day camp which not only brought the players together for some valuable coaching sessions, but also allowed the young players to watch and interact with their senior counterparts.

As well as including technical sessions on court, and off court workshops delivered by a nutritionist and a psychologist, the junior players were given an opportunity to meet and chat to senior players ahead of their EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers against the Netherlands and Czechia.

Dan Petts, Head Coach of the Under 16s team, said: “This camp was extremely important as not only did it allow us to provide an opportunity to start embedding the GB style of play with this youth team, it also provided us with a chance to start building our mentoring programme.

“Opportunities like this allow our young players to see first hand what it means to be part of the senior team and to take onboard some inspirational advice from the senior players and coaches.

“The Under 16 players all enjoyed the experience and I’d like to thank the coaching staff and the parents who made it possible to bring everyone together. Plus, I’d like to say a special thank you to the Under 16 players for the commitment they showed throughout this camp and to the senior players for all being so generous with their time.”

Fiona Pimblett, Performance Lead for the British Basketball Federation, said: “This recent Under 16 Men’s camp has been really successful, both for players and staff. It’s exactly how we want the GB pathways to be running as we move forward, with really strong alignment all the way from Under 16 up to Senior level.

“Dan and the team have done a brilliant job so far to build the foundations of what looks to be an exciting international season ahead for this team.”

Next up for the team will be the FIBA Under 16 EuroBasket tournament which will be held in Skopje in North Macedonia from 8 to 17 August. The team have been drawn in group C where they will face Romania, Slovakia, Ireland, Denmark and Norway.