The 2009-10 Basketball for Your Future project, funded by Aimhigher Nottinghamshire and run by the Nottingham Wildcats has been developed and delivered by Aimhigher Colleges and Vocational Manager, Helen Waters-Marsh and Chris Prior, Senior Coach at the Nottingham Wildcats. 

The programme recruited fifteen male year 10 and 11 students from the Aimhigher cohort in schools across the county. The students took part in 10, two-hour sessions which were designed to give the students a greater knowledge of basketball and sport in general, whilst linking this to academic progression from GCSEs to higher education.  

To reinforce the message of ‘it is possible if you want it’, Student Ambassadors Anne-Marie Powell, a graduate of Nottingham Trent University, and Siobhan Prior from Loyola College Maryland, USA, were also part of the programme, coaching the two teams and telling them about university life both here and in the USA. 

Throughout the programme student and staff discussions took place on an individual level and in small groups. Sometimes these were just for the purposes of delivering information, but more often they were focused question and answer sessions, whereby staff provided specific information about higher education, enabling students to make informed decisions about whether university life would suit them. 

A tour of Nottingham Trent University was incorporated into the programme, giving some students their first sight of a university campus and the accommodation and facilities on offer. 

Of the fifteen students that began the programme, fourteen made it through to Graduation Day, which was held at the Nottingham Wildcats Arena.  Parents, carers, brothers, sisters and friends joined the celebrations at the arena, where they were treated to a game between the students. After the game everyone ‘tucked into’ a buffet, after which each student collected their graduation certificate and a basketball. 

Chris Prior, the Project Manager felt, “the programme offered a unique opportunity for the students to enjoy sport and gain valuable information about their possible academic future. He added that, “having the Student Ambassadors really helped the young people understand what is needed to achieve both academically and in sport, especially as Siobhan and Anne-Marie both had completely different experiences in their college/university lives.    

The last word is with Helen, who commented, “it is hoped the project will be repeated next season, with a parallel programme being rolled out for female students”. 

For more information on the Basketball for Your Future project, please contact Helen Waters-Marsh on 0115 848 4443, email helen.watersmarsh@ntu.ac.uk.